


My Side of the Story

by Zimixtia



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Canon Divergence (Adheres To Canon At First), Headcanon, How Do I Tag, My First Fanfic, Narrator Chara (sort of), Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Soul Bond
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-03
Updated: 2016-04-14
Packaged: 2018-05-18 00:56:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 19,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5891935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zimixtia/pseuds/Zimixtia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A retelling of Undertale, from Chara's perspective.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Author's Notes

This will be a fic based on my headcanon of Chara. Chara and Frisk may be slightly OOC, at least compared to how most people may view them, so bear with me. Dialogue from the other characters will be taken almost directly from the game, when possible. (Also, all the characters and dialogue belong to Toby, I only claim to own my interpretation)  
Basic idea behind this fic is to get into Chara's character more. The events of the fic will be from canon, but retold as Chara (or my headcanon Chara) sees things. I'll start with the Neutral Route, but I may end up doing all the endings and looping over several timelines.  
For context's sake, Chara is basically a ghost, who is only seen by those who share a similar soul to their original soul. Which basically means just Frisk. Chara grows increasingly attached to and protective of Frisk, eventually fusing onto Frisk's soul.  
Thanks from http://drokiesta.tumblr.com/ for help with brainstorming and writing.  
My first fanfic, so please be nice! That being said, polite constructive feedback is always welcome and encouraged.  
Rated T in case of gore or language.  
Not sure when I'll have the first chapter ready or how regularly I'll update, but I'll try my best :)


	2. Recognition

Everyone wants to escape the Underground. There’s scarcely anyone who really thinks they’re happy here. And of all the monsters wanting to be free, none want freedom as much as I do.  
I once lived on the surface. I’ve lost count of how many years ago it was, that I fell into the Underground and met Asriel. Back then I had no reason to go back. Life with the Dreemurrs was better than anything I’d had on the surface. But they wanted out. And I had the means to get them out.  
Unfortunately, things didn’t exactly go the way I had hoped. Asriel took my body to the surface, and things turned sour from there. I hate humans. They ruin everything for everyone else, and even themselves, just because they think it makes them stronger, or safer, or whatever.  
So Asriel came back to the Underground, and both our souls were lost. Asriel managed to find a host; a small flower who, with the help of Alphys, became as corporeal and powerful as he’d ever been in life, plus Determination to boot. But me? I was human once. Things were a little trickier for me.  
I can only be seen by those whose soul resembles mine. No monster can see me. Even the few humans who have fallen have been unable to see me, or at least not clearly enough for them to think I exist. Nobody even knows I’m here.  
How many years now, have I drifted through the Underground alone? Who knows. I don’t really care. With Flowey continually resetting timelines, it’s even harder to keep track. I can entertain myself well enough by watching the monsters. I feel as though I know everyone in the Underground. Too bad none of them know me. I’ve grown to resent them. At least I’m never bored. Just lonely sometimes.  
A lot of the time.  
Always.  
Well, what is there I can do? I might as well not exist until some human comes along who can see me, and at least talk to me. I’d go to the surface to find help, but for that I need a human soul. I don’t even have any soul. Just a vague trace of Determination, and a bundle of memories and feelings. Enough to make me feel like I have a soul. Not enough to give me one.

And so I drift.  
I find myself floating towards the Ruins. I find myself drawn here often, actually. What feelings and memories I have left are brought out more in the Ruins. I fell here. I met Asriel here. I often still find Toriel pottering around, baking or watering her flowers. Sometimes she talks to herself, and I sit beside her and pretend she’s talking to me. It’s not the same.  
I drift absentmindedly to the flowerbed Toriel cherishes so much. Where I fell. Asriel showed up right there. He took me to that door, where Toriel and Asgore fussed over me and ushered me into their home. Beautiful, painful memories.  
I am so lost in myself that I don’t realise there’s another human sprawled out on the flowerbed until they groan and start to stir. A flurry of thought and emotions rushes through me, before my mind settles on, ‘check if they’re okay’. I set my feet on the ground and run over, checking to see if the human is visibly hurt. They seem to be fine, aside from some scrapes and a gooey, wet bandage on their head. They sit up and look directly at me. Uncanny. It’s as if they can see me.  
“Who are you?”  
Surely not me. I look around to see who they’re talking to. There’s nobody else. “Y-you mean me?”  
“Of course I mean you.” They stand up and beam at me, holding out their hand to shake. “I’m Frisk. What’s your name?”  
“Ch-I’m Chara.”  
“That’s a nice name.”  
“Thanks.” Asriel said that, too.  
Frisk is still holding out their hand for me to shake. Can I even touch a person who can see me? I decide to give it a shot. To my surprise, it works as well as if I were corporeal. Frisk shakes my hand with vigour. They feel warm. I missed feeling warm.  
“How did you get here, Chara?”  
“I’ve been here for years.”  
“Great! If you don’t mind, I could really do with someone to come with me and show me how this place works. I figure this is monster territory.”  
They actually want me around? Am I dreaming? “Sure I’ll come with you, Frisk! I‘ll help as much as I can. But before we go, you have to understand something.”  
“Sure.”  
“I’m not…” How do I explain this? I suppose I should just be blunt. “I’m dead, Frisk. I’m a ghost. Nobody else down here can see me, in fact I’m quite surprised that you can see me. So just…be aware of that, I guess. Or, you know, you could ditch me if you think it’s weird. I’d understand.”  
Frisk shakes their head. “Nope, dead or alive you’re still a person. So I’m going to treat you like any other person. And I really appreciate you helping me out down here.”  
I find myself smiling for no good reason. “It’s no trouble. I have nothing else to do anyways, and I really need some company.”  
“Great!” Frisk grabs my hand with a smile and runs for the doorway, dragging me behind them. “Let’s go!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to post this as it was after the first draft, because I'm keen to get started. I apologise if it sucks, but I'm at least enjoying writing this :) (plus if I go over it too many times it won't feel right anymore)  
> Hope you're enjoying it so far!  
> Constructive feedback welcome and encouraged


	3. Deception

Frisk keeps running along, dragging me behind them, until Flowey pops up in their path.  
Of all the people, we had to run into this douchebag first?  
“Hi! I’m Flowey! Flowey the Flower!”  
Frisk seems completely won over. “Aw, how cute.” They kneel in front of Flowey and start petting his petals.  
“Frisk, get away from him!”  
“You’re new to the Underground, aren’tcha? Golly, you must be so confused. Someone ought to teach you how things work around here. I guess little old me will have to do. Ready?”  
“No, Frisk, don’t trust him. I know him. He’s going to try to kill you.”  
Frisk ignores me. “I’m ready!”  
“Here we go!”  
The world dissolves as Flowey initiates a fight. Everything turns black, save for Flowey, the action interface, and a white bullet box with a red soul inside. Frisk spends a moment looking over the buttons and bullet box, completely ignoring me telling them to get out of here the whole time Flowey explains to Frisk how their soul moves in the bullet box.  
“Your soul starts off weak, but you can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV. What’s LV stand for? Why, LOVE, of course!”   
Okay, where was he going with this? Because I sure as hell didn’t like it. “Frisk, we have to go.”  
“You want some LOVE, don’t you?”  
Frisk grins. “I want some love!”  
“Don’t worry, I‘ll share some with you!” Wink. Yep, he’s up to something nasty.  
I grab Frisk’s arm and pull them to the side. “Frisk, do you want to get yourself killed?”  
Frisk glares at me and shakes their arm free. “He seems really nice, Chara. I don’t know why you seem not to like him.”  
“He’ll kill you!”  
“Down here, LOVE is shared through little white ‘friendliness pellets’.” A set of bullets appear behind Flowey. This is bad.  
“Are you ready? Move around, get as many as you can!”  
Despite my tugging at Frisk as the bullets fly forwards, Frisk ignores me completely and runs right into them. No sooner than is Frisk on the floor, winded and reeling with pain, Flowey’s expression changes to something demonic. “You idiot. In this world, it’s kill or BE killed! Why would ANYONE pass up an opportunity like this!?”  
Frisk looks profoundly confused and hurt. “Frisk, I warned you. We have to get away from him.”  
I helped Frisk to their feet, but before we could run, a ring of bullets formed around us, completely inescapable. “DIE.”  
The bullets closed in slowly as Flowey laughed. That sicko. Frisk was looking around, flustered and scared. “Frisk, listen to me. You have to maintain your will to survive. Stay determined, alright? If you do that, then no matter what Flowey does, he can’t hurt you.”  
Frisk gives me a pained look, then nods. But before the bullets can reach us, a fireball appears and knocks Flowey out of sight. Toriel appears in his place.  
“What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth. Ah, do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down. You are the first human to come down here in a long time. Come, I will guide you through the catacombs. ” Toriel allows the world around us to return to normal and smiles warmly. “This way.”  
Toriel walks into the next room, and pauses, waiting for Frisk. Frisk looks up at me, thoroughly shaken and very confused. “You can trust Toriel,” I assure them, “I know her. She seldom attacks anything, and even when she does it’s more of a slap on the wrist than an actual attack. She won’t hurt you.”  
Frisk stares at me, still seemingly confused, but they eventually nod slowly and follow Toriel to the next room. I drift overhead, making sure Flowey doesn’t follow us.  
He does.


	4. Apprehension

I drift alongside Frisk, watching as Toriel explains how to solve puzzles and progress through the rooms. Since I find myself more or less unneeded at this stage, I anchor myself to Frisk by wrapping my arms around their shoulders. They’re partway across an empty hallway, and they stop when I latch onto them. “Um, Chara?”  
“If I’m not concentrating on what I’m doing here, I might drift away. So while you don’t need me, I’ll anchor myself down like this so I don’t lose you.”  
“Oh, alright then.”  
“Sorry, is it weird?”  
“A bit, but I guess I don’t mind. It’s not like you’re heavy or anything.”  
Frisk keeps walking. Being anchored down, I found my mind drifting on its own. Not unusual. Frisk seems to be okay for a while anyway. I let my mind wander, and I’m lulled into something like sleep.  
I’m jerked awake some time later by Frisk touching my face. “Chara?”  
“I’m here, I was just asleep. What’s wrong?”  
Frisk doesn’t need to explain. The bullet box and interface are floating in front of us. A Froggit is sitting in front of us, passively. “Chara, what do we do?”  
“Well, Frisk, you have four options. You can FIGHT, and kill the Froggit. You can ACT, and try to make friends with or distract the Froggit. You can use an ITEM, or you can use MERCY. MERCY lets you either spare the monster or run away.”  
“Oh, so it’s like with Toriel’s training dummy?”  
Huh? I must have slept through that part. “Yeah, probably. If you kill it, you get EXP.”  
“What does that do?”  
“Remember what Flowey said about LOVE making you stronger? He was right, but you can’t give someone LOVE. You earn it by getting EXP from killing monsters.”  
Frisk looks a little upset. “I don’t want to kill them.”  
“Really?”  
“Well, I’m scared another one like Flowey is going to come hurt me, but…”  
“I’ll tell you what, Frisk. I know monsters a little better than you. If I think one of them is really going to hurt you, you can tell me to attack for you. All you’ll have to do is dodge.”  
“Okay. That sounds a little better.”  
“Good. Now, this Froggit doesn’t really seem very upset with you. It should be pretty easy to befriend him, if you want to.”  
“Okay!” Frisk presses ACT, and almost without pausing to think, chooses to compliment the Froggit. “You look nice today!”  
“I don’t think it can understand you, Frisk. But seems like you made it happy anyway.”  
The Froggit throws a weak attack that Frisk easily dodges, and then Frisk presses MERCY. They hold their arms out and offer a hug. The Froggit jumps happily into Frisk’s arms, and the world around us returns to normal. Frisk puts the Froggit down with a smile and waves goodbye, then sets off back down the corridor. “Most monsters will be fairly easy to befriend and SPARE, especially around here. You should be fine on your own with them.”  
“Okay. What if I have trouble?”  
“You can wake me up any time, Frisk. I’m just saying I have confidence in you, so you shouldn’t be too scared. Not unless Flowey shows up. I seriously doubt if we’ll meet anyone else that bent on killing you. We might find some who want to rough you up or kidnap you, though, so be careful when you meet something you haven’t seen before.”  
“O-okay.”  
Things continue smoothly enough that I almost drift back into a trance, and I might have if it weren’t for the occasional fight. I made sure to keep an eye on those, just in case. Frisk seems more than capable of solving the puzzles, so I stay quiet and let them unless they ask for my help. It’s actually quite nice. Frisk is warm, and they smell of fresh air. It’s oddly comforting. It reminds me of the surface.  
We run into a ghost who seems to have some serious issues, but Frisk cheers them up easily without my help. They beam at me afterward, clearly pleased with themself. I smile back and ruffle their hair a little. They giggle and keep walking. We soon find a ribbon on the ground. I detach myself from Frisk and pick it up. “Monsters won’t hit you as hard if you’re cuter. You should wear this.”  
“Uh, I don’t know.”  
“Come on, Frisk, it was just lying here on the ground. Plus, that bandage you have on is pretty gross.” I unwind the bandage from their head, and they take it from me and put it in their pocket. Gross. I pull their hair up into a small, messy ponytail and tie it in place with the ribbon. “There. You look adorable.”  
Frisk smiles sheepishly. “Thanks, I guess.”  
“No problem. Let’s keep going.”  
A while later, Frisk finds a knife. “Oh, it’s made of plastic.”  
“That’s rare.”  
“Is it?”  
“Well, yeah. Toy knives aren’t really popular nowadays.”  
“Huh, must be from a while ago. Either way, it’s better than that stick.”  
Frisk puts the stick they’d been defending themself with in their pocket, and takes the plastic knife.  
“There. Now if you do have to hurt anyone to stop them, you’ll be able to do more damage.”  
“I don’t like this, Chara.”  
“Alright. You can keep the stick if you like. You might not need to attack anything anyway. It’s just a good precaution.”  
“I guess so.” Frisk opts to keep the knife, and we continue.  
Soon enough, we arrive at Toriel’s home. She takes Frisk inside and gives them a room to stay in. I recognise it, but I don’t say anything to Frisk. I do make a few comments on various objects in the room. “Hey Frisk, look at these cool toys!”  
Frisk looks through the toys Asriel and I used to play with, but soon closes the toy box again. “They don’t really interest me at all.”  
I detach myself from Frisk and drift to the other side of the room. “This photo frame is really dusty. And there’s a lot of shoes in random sizes.”  
“I guess Toriel has had other children before me.”  
“Yeah…I guess so.”  
Frisk sits down on the bed. “Chara, I think I might take a nap.”  
“Sure. I’m not going anywhere.”  
Frisk goes to sleep, and I spend a while drifting through the room and the rest of the house, reminding myself of things I’d almost forgotten. It’s been a long time since I was in this house. Toriel still keeps a bar of my favourite chocolate in her fridge. That makes me smile. And cry. Since I lost my soul, I don’t really understand things like that anymore. I just know that this place is both wonderful, and for some reason, horribly painful.  
After a while, I drift back to Frisk and anchor myself to their shoulders. I loose myself in a trance, and I share their dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've had a massive inspiration and I already have 2 more chapters after this one done, so I'll be posting kinda quickly. May not be able to keep this up though  
> Hope you enjoyed :)  
> As always, feedback is welcome


	5. Aggression

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay a big thanks you guys for your nice comments :) Especially carifoo01 and Mire - Apparently people actually like my headcanon of Chara, which I kind of wasn't expecting, so that's pretty awesome :D  
> You guys make writing this fic even more fun I love you all <3
> 
> (Unfortunately there is some murder in this chapter...so your opinions of Chara may change)  
> (I hope not)

Frisk wakes me up as they take the piece of pie Toriel left, and asks, “What now?”  
“Well, I guess that’s up to you, Frisk. You can stay here with Toriel, or you can ask her how to leave.”  
“Well…as nice as it is here, to be honest, Toriel kinda creeps me out. I feel like she’s going to kill me in my sleep or something.”  
“I can promise you she won’t, but that’s fine. This place brings back some feelings for me I’d rather not deal with, anyway.”  
Frisk pauses and turns to look at me, concerned. “Are you okay?”  
“I’m fine, Frisk. We don’t need to talk about it. My emotions are weird since I died, anyway.”  
“Alright, if you’re sure.”  
Frisk wanders over to where Toriel is sitting, reading, and strikes up a conversation about snails. I let myself drift around overhead a little. I notice Flowey watching Frisk from the corner. He’s up to no good, I know that much. But Frisk would be pretty freaked out if they knew we were being stalked, and for whatever reason, Flowey hasn’t actually tried to hurt Frisk since earlier. I’ll keep a close eye on him, but he seems not to be an immediate threat. No need to worry Frisk about it, then.  
“I have to do something. Stay here.” With that, Toriel suddenly get up and leaves the room.  
I turn to Frisk in confusion. They stare blankly back. “Um, we should maybe follow her. I think she might be going towards the exit.”  
I shrug. “Sure.”  
I follow Frisk to the next room and down the stairs. Toriel was standing in the basement. “You wish to know how to return ‘home’, do you not?”  
Frisk nods apprehensively.  
“Ahead of us lies the end of the Ruins. A one-way exit to the rest of the Underground. I am going to destroy it. No one will ever be able to leave again. Now be a good child and go upstairs.”  
She walks further down the passageway, out of earshot. Frisk looks up at me. “Chara, I’m scared.”  
“We’re okay, Frisk. Keep following her, or you’ll be trapped.”  
Frisk timidly follows Toriel, and stops as she begins another spiel. “Every human that falls down here meets the same fate. I have seen it again and again. They come. They leave. They die. You naive child…if you leave the Ruins…they…Asgore…will kill you. I am only protecting you, do you understand?”  
Frisk stands dead still, managing to look halfway sure of themself.  
“…go to your room.”  
Toriel leaves again. Frisk takes my hand, giving me a scared look. “You’ll be fine, Frisk. I’ll protect you.”  
They continue, but they mostly look at the floor, even as Toriel speaks again. “Do not try to stop me. This is your final warning.” She vanishes around a corner.  
“Chara?”  
“You have to go after her, Frisk. Otherwise she’ll trap you down here forever. You want to be some goat lady’s pet?”  
“I’m scared.”  
“Do you want me to help you, Frisk?”  
Frisk nods.  
“Alright. Hold still. I’m going to try something.”  
I take both of Frisk’s hands and try to fold myself into their body. When I open my eyes, I find myself inside Frisk, with their voice echoing in my (their?) head. “What happened?”  
“It’s okay, Frisk. I’m going to control your body for you for a little while until you’re safe from Toriel.”  
“Chara, I don’t think-”  
“It’s fine, Frisk. I’ll give your body back as soon as I’m done.”  
Frisk stays quiet. I turn the corner to follow Toriel. She glares. “You want to leave so badly? Hmph. You are just like the others. There is only one solution to this. Prove yourself… Prove to me you are strong enough to survive.”  
Everything goes black slowly, and the interface forms in front of me. I hear Frisk saying something in vague protest as I hit FIGHT and swing the knife at Toriel. “Chara!”  
“Shush, Frisk,” I only need to think the words to say them, “she wants to imprison you here and keep you like her little pet. Do you realise how sick that is?”  
“But Chara-”  
“Frisk.”  
I ignore them as I dodge around Toriel’s fire. “See, Frisk, she clearly wants to hurt you.”  
“Chara, please.”  
“Frisk, I’m doing this for your own good!”  
Slash.  
Dodge.  
Slash.  
Dodge.  
Frisk isn’t protesting anymore. All I can hear from them is something that sounds almost like sobbing.  
Slash.  
Dodge.  
Easy.  
Almost too easy.  
Toriel soon turns to dust in front of me. I unfold myself from Frisk, giving them their body back. They instantly fall to their knees and start sobbing. “Why would you do that?”  
“Frisk, she was trying to hurt you. I was protecting you.”  
“You could have protected me without killing her!”  
“How?”  
“Like you taught me before, befriending the monsters so they won’t fight.”  
“Frisk.” I kneel beside them and rest a hand on their shoulder. “You weren’t going to befriend her any more than you already had. She still tried to kill you. Nothing you could have done would have made her stop, aside from being her little pet human. Is that what you want?”  
“It would be better than this! At least she was nice to me.”  
“For now, Frisk. Until she won your trust. Then what? She might just start drugging your pie, or keeping you on a leash, or who knows what else. She didn’t even want you to leave that room by yourself. She would have controlled you and everything you were allowed to do for the rest of your life. Trained you like a dog.”  
Frisk turned to me and glared. “I can’t believe you.”  
“What did I do wrong?”  
“You killed a sweet old lady!”  
“I killed a constricting dictator who would have you on puppet strings if she could.”  
Frisk turned away from me, continuing to sob. An interface formed in front of them, though it was smaller than I was used to. They pressed RESET.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I kind of enjoyed seeing this part of Chara tbh (yeah I'm weird sue me)  
> I hope you all still like them even after that I swear they mean well  
> Side note poor Frisk, the cutie took a real beating this chapter :(


	6. Correction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frisk tries to fix things  
> Chara is confused

I opened my eyes to find myself anchored to Frisk just outside Toriel’s home. I blinked in confusion. Weren’t we just here? Didn’t we do this already?  
Frisk walked inside. Toriel greeted us. Didn’t we just get rid of her? She leads Frisk to their room. This is exactly the same. Only this time, Frisk doesn’t stop to look around the room with me. They crawl straight into the bed and pull the covers over their head.  
“Frisk?”  
“I’m not talking to you.”  
“Come on, Frisk, don’t be like that.” I sat on the end of the bed. “Talk to me.”  
“You killed Toriel.”  
“Technically, you killed Toriel. I don’t have a body to kill anything with.”  
A choked sob. Okay, that didn’t help.  
“Look, Frisk. I’m scared for you, okay? I’m just trying to keep you safe. The only way I know how to stop people like Toriel is to get rid of them.”  
“You’re sick.”  
“Maybe. But I wanted to protect you.”  
Silence. I eventually realised Frisk was asleep. I anchored myself to the frame of the bed and slipped into a trance.  
Frisk didn’t wake me up. I find them just as they were following Toriel into the basement. “What are you doing, Frisk?”  
“I’m going to prove to you I can beat Toriel without hurting her!”  
“You’re going to get yourself killed.”  
“Then I’ll go back again and admit you were right.”  
I shrug. “If you insist, Frisk.”  
I drift after them through the corridor. I mostly ignore the dialoge; I heard all this just earlier. As Frisk begins the fight with Toriel, they give me a sideways glance and hit MERCY. “I don’t want to fight, Mother. I just want to go home.”  
Toriel seems slightly thrown off, but she attacks Frisk all the same. After several repeats of this, and Toriel growing increasingly confused and agitated, she eventually stops attacking altogether. She stands in silent confusion, looking torn, as Frisk hits MERCY over and over and over. Then she caves. “Pathetic, is it not? I cannot save even a single child.”  
MERCY.  
“No, I understand. You would just be unhappy trapped down here. The Ruins are very small once you get used to them. It would not be right for you to grow up in a place like this.”  
Wait, she was going to let us go?  
MERCY.  
“My expectations, my loneliness, my fear…”  
It worked?  
MERCY.  
“For you my child, I will put them aside.”  
Colour returned, and Toriel smiled at Frisk sadly. It actually worked.  
“If you truly wish to leave the Ruins…I will not stop you. However, when you leave…please do not come back. I hope you understand.”  
She hugs Frisk.  
Why is she hugging Frisk?  
Isn’t she going to try to kill them?  
No.  
Just hugging them. And crying.  
What did Frisk do to her?  
“Goodbye, my child.” Toriel stands and leaves, pausing only to take one last look at Frisk.  
Then Frisk and I are alone, and the gate is unlocked. Frisk meets my eyes with a sad smile. “I told you I could do it.”  
“Alright, I concede. Well played, Frisk. Though I have no idea how or why that actually worked.”  
Frisk sniffled. “Aw, don’t tell me you made yourself all sad.”  
“I’m fine. It was a bit sad, but…I have a feeling I’ll meet her again somewhere. So it’s okay.” They put their hand to the door and push it open. “We should get going.”


	7. Tension

Frisk marched up the corridor, deliberately avoiding eye contact with me. “I don’t understand why you’re so mad at me, Frisk.”  
“I don’t understand how you can not see the fault in your actions!”  
I was confused. So I’d made a mistake. So what? As far as I had been aware, I did the most logical and safest thing for Frisk. So why are they so upset?  
We surface in a snowy forest. Frisk only pauses for a moment before continuing. “Hey, Frisk, there’s a camera in this bush.”  
Frisk ignores me.  
They pause in front of a large stick on the path. “Looks too big for you to carry, as much as you love sticks.”  
Frisk steps over it and keeps going, without a word. We both turn on our heels when we hear a crunching noise. “Frisk, the stick’s been smashed like it was nothing.”  
Frisk shudders, looks around, and continues, being sure to watch their step closely. As we walk, I see something move behind us. “Frisk, we’re being stalked by something!”  
Frisk pauses and glances over their shoulder. They must not see anything, because they continue right up to the bridge. “Frisk, don’t you hear the footsteps?”  
Frisk pauses and listens. Their expression freezes as the realise there is something coming up behind them. They must be frozen in terror, because they don’t even turn to look.  
The figure stops about two feet from us.  
“H u m a n.”  
Frisk shudders, clearly screaming internally. Tears even form in their eyes. I prepare to force control, just in case I should need to.  
“D o n ‘ t y o u k n o w h o w t o g r e e t a n e w p a l?”  
Frisk whimpers. “Sh, it’s alright, Frisk. I’ll protect you.”  
“T u r n a r o u n d a n d s h a k e m y h a n d.”  
Robotically, Frisk turns to face the creature and extends a hand. The creature grabs their hand.  
Was that…farting?  
“heheh…the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it’s ALWAYS funny. anyway, you’re a human, right? that’s hilarious. i’m sans. sans the skeleton.”  
Frisk seems even more dumbstruck by the entire thing than I am.  
“i’m actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now but…y’know…i don’t really care about capturing anybody. now my brother, papyrus…he’s a human-hunting FANATIC. hey, actually, i think that’s him over there. i have an idea. go through this gate thingy.”  
Frisk continues to stare blankly at the skeleton.  
“yeah go right through. my bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone.”  
I tugged Frisk’s arm gently. They seemed to wake up from their fright, and turned to walk through the gate. Sans stopped them shortly after.  
“quick, behind that conveniently-shaped lamp.”  
Frisk stands behind the lamp, and we watch the comical skeleton brothers make fools of themselves in silence. Well, almost silence. Frisk giggles a couple of times at Sans’ lame skeleton puns.  
Something tells me I’m in for a long day.


	8. Suspicion

“SO, AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE,”  
Papyrus pauses when he notices Frisk standing nearby. He turns from Frisk to Sans. Sans turns from Papyrus to Frisk. This continues until both spin in circles.  
“SANS!! OH MY GOSH!! IS THAT…A HUMAN!?!?!??!?!”  
They turn to look at Frisk again. Sans replies, “uhhhh…actually i think that’s a rock.”  
Confused, both Frisk and I glance behind us and find a boulder. Very funny Sans. Why is Frisk giggling?  
“OH.”  
“hey, what’s that in front of the rock?”  
“OH MY GOSH!!!” Papyrus turns to Sans and stage whispers, “IS…IS THAT A HUMAN?”  
Sans stage whispers back, “yes.”  
“OH MY GOSH!!! SANS! I FINALLY DID IT!! UNDYNE WILL… I’M GONNA… I’LL BE SO…” Papyrus seems too excited to articulate himself. “POPULAR!!! POPULAR!!! POPULAR!!” He pauses and clears his throat. “HUMAN! YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA!” I don’t like where this is going. “I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU!!! I WILL THEN CAPTURE YOU!” Yep, I didn’t trust either of them. Anybody who wants to kidnap a child for personal fame is really not worth the effort of befriending. “YOU WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE CAPITAL! THEN… THEN!!! I’M NOT SURE WHAT’S NEXT.” Great. A threat, and stupid. Not a good combination if Frisk refuses to fight or run. “IN ANY CASE! CONTINUE…ONLY IF YOU DARE!!! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!!”   
He walked off dramatically as he laughed. Sans stayed to pass a sarcastic remark, “well, that went well.” Typical. “don’t sweat it, kid. i’ll keep an eyesocket out for ya.” Then he was gone, too.  
Frisk started to follow them, but I pulled them back. “Are you out of your mind?”  
“What?”  
“You can’t just follow the people who challenged you to a ‘let’s see if we can kidnap you and ship you off to the king’ game. They’ll put you in a cell, or worse.”  
“They seem pretty harmless, and it sounds like fun.”  
Frisk left, ignoring me yelling at them as I floated alongside them.  
After various shenanigans with Sans and Papyrus, Frisk and I found ourselves being put through something of an obstacle course of puzzles. Papyrus would always undermine his own challenges; leaving footprints along the correct trail or leaving notes with his ‘distractions’ explaining how they were such good traps. Frisk found it great fun to watch the two of them bumble around, and was grinning or laughing through almost the entire experience. I found it highly suspicious. I didn’t trust these skeletons at all.  
We arrived at Sans’ puzzle, which had both Frisk and I confused only because we weren’t sure if they were serious or not. A word search? That was pretty pathetic, even for Sans. Frisk seemed to enjoy it, though. Once they understood this was the real puzzle with no traps, they laughed at the absurdity of it all. When the skeletons left to start up the next puzzle, Frisk paused for a moment. I set my feet down, hoping they would listen to me, but they just put on a goofy smile. “Sans is hilarious.”  
Oh, boy.  
“Yeah, he has some good puns, if you’re into that humour, but I still don’t trust either of them.”  
“Why? I’m enjoying myself.” Another goofy grin. Yep. Bad news.  
Frisk doesn’t bother to wait for my reply, but continues to wander through the snow, taking their sweet time looking at everything and playing with every monster they can find. Right when I thought we might finally move on, Frisk found a dog who’s neck grew when it was pet, which was apparently the most fun thing they’d seen all day, because they kept petting the dog until its neck reached unnatural sizes. Perhaps mankind wasn’t meant to pet this much. It was kind of freakish.  
About four meters of neck later, Frisk finally decided to let the dog go and kept going. We met the next puzzle soon enough. Frisk swept a pile of snow off of a nearby rock and decided there was a switch nearby, so they went and found the switch and continued. Then more dogs. I hate dogs.  
“Hey Frisk, these guys look pretty hard to deal with. Want me to help?”  
Frisk glared at me. “I’m not letting you do anything, Chara! I can do this on my own.”  
“But Frisk, these guys give me a bad feeling.”  
Frisk ignores me. Even after their attacks prove to be fairly brutal and difficult to work out, Frisk refuses to even let me help. “Frisk, as long as they can smell you they’ll attack you. You can’t even run from them. You have to let me help you; this is a kill or be killed.”  
Frisk gives me a disapproving look and presses ACT. Roll in the dirt? Why?  
The dogs start sniffing in confusion. They soon decide Frisk now smells okay, though they keep attacking. Frisk pets them both, causing them to nearly fall over with shock. Apparently it’s a new concept to them for dogs to pet dogs. Whatever.  
Frisk hits MERCY and the dogs leave to spread the word about this new weird puppy. Frisk looks up at me with a smug smirk. “Okay, Frisk, you win again. What do you want me to do? Let you get hurt without saying anything?” Frisk rolls their eyes and keeps walking, avoiding my eyes. “I honestly thought you weren’t going to get out of that one without killing them, Frisk.”  
“Yeah, well you were wrong.”  
“But you shouldn’t be mad at me for trying to keep you safe!”  
Frisk ignores me, focusing on the sign in front of them. “Frisk, please?”  
They simply turn and tap each of the X symbols once, turning them into O symbols. They stand on the switch and continue through the now clear path. Clearly I’m not getting through to them. What do they want?  
The next puzzle proves to be surprisingly easy. While Frisk is talking with Papyrus, I notice a switch on a nearby tree. “Hey Frisk, a switch.”  
Frisk looks in my direction, checks the tree, and clearly sees the switch. But they give me an unimpressed look and solve the puzzle manually. Well, if they want to ignore shortcuts, they can. I anchor myself down to their shoulders, ignoring that they seem slightly uncomfortable. They told me earlier that I can, and besides, I now feel a slight pull towards Frisk. Like I should be connected to them.  
The coloured tile puzzle is the most complex, and even though Frisk seems to at least mostly grasp the rules, they ask Papyrus for another explanation. Their expression tells me they’re only doing it to annoy him. Papyrus happily obliges, however, but begins stumbling over himself and getting increasingly confused. When he asks again if Frisk understands, Frisk responds by shaking their head, biting their lip to suppress laughter. Papyrus eventually looses patience with Frisk and leaves in a huff. Frisk starts laughing. They turn blue from lack of air. “Frisk, it wasn’t that funny.”  
“Yes it was!”  
Frisk is such a child. Regardless, they soon recover from their laughing fit and continue across the plains, and reach the bridge. Sans and Papyrus block their path.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chara really doesn't like the Skelebros :/  
> Also Frisk is being kind of a douche to Chara (though tbh Chara asked for it)


	9. Confusion

“HUMAN! THIS IS YOUR FINAL AND MOST DANGEROUS CHALLENGE! BEHOLD! THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR!”  
A series of weapons appears from nowhere, and grasp Frisk’s arm. “I warned you, Frisk. Let’s run before we get hurt.”  
“WHEN I SAY THE WORD, IT WILL FULLY ACTIVATE!!! CANNONS WILL FIRE! SPIKES WILL SWING! BLADES WILL SLICE!”  
Why is Frisk not moving?  
“EACH PART WILL SWING VIOLENTLY UP AND DOWN! ONLY THE TINIEST CHANCE OF VICTORY WILL REMAIN!!! ARE YOU READY!?”  
No.  
“BECAUSE! I! AM! ABOUT! TO DO IT!”  
I tried to hold Frisk back, but nothing happened. We both stood in confusion as Sans asked, “well? what’s the holdup?”  
“HOLDUP!? WHAT HOLDUP!? I’M…I’M ABOUT TO ACTIVATE IT NOW!”  
“that, uh, doesn’t look very activated.”  
“WELL!!! THIS CHALLENGE!!! IT SEEMS…MAYBE…TOO EASY TO DEFEAT THE HUMAN WITH. YEAH! WE CAN’T USE THIS ONE!!! I AM A SKELETON WITH STANDARDS!!! MY PUZZLES ARE VERY FAIR! AND MY TRAPS ARE EXPERTLY COOKED! BUT THIS METHOD IS TOO DIRECT! NO CLASS AT ALL! AWAY IT GOES!”  
What the hell is going on?  
Frisk is still staring at Papyrus, completely befuddled with the entire thing.  
“WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT!? THIS WAS ANOTHER DECISIVE VICTORY FOR PAPYRUS!! NYEH!! HEH!! …HEH???”  
He leaves, looking slightly confused himself. Frisk stays still for a moment, before smiling to themself. Ignoring better judgement, they continued across the bridge, and stopped to speak to Sans.  
“i don’t know what my brother’s going to do now. if i were you, i would make sure i understand blue attacks.”  
Frisk seems taken aback. Sans refuses to say anything else, so Frisk continues through the plains. “Frisk, he’s going to fight you.”  
“I know.”  
“He’ll stop at nothing until you’re captured, don’t you understand?”  
“So? What do I gain by going back and staying in the snowy plains where it’s supposedly safer? I get to freeze or starve.”  
I had no answer for this. Frisk takes this as my defeat, and passes into a small town. “The sign says this place is called Snowdin.”  
Frisk shrugs, and goes into a shop. They buy some food and a bandana with weird abs drawn on it. They pull the ribbon from their hair and pocket it, then tie the bandana to their head. They then visit the inn to rest and heal. When they come back, they look even brighter than they did at the beginning of this whole thing.  
I anchored to Frisk again as they spent their sweet time talking to everyone in town and exploring everywhere. I was almost in a trance when the air turned even colder, and fog set in around us. Frisk stopped, shivering in the cold. I was about to suggest we go back, when a familiar voice cut through the fog.  
“HUMAN.”


	10. Reconciliation

Frisk was shivering, though I couldn’t tell if it was from cold or fear. I anchored onto their shoulders, hoping to give them some warmth or comfort. It didn’t seem to help. The skin of their neck was freezing.  
“ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU ABOUT SOME COMPLEX FEELINGS. FEELINGS LIKE… THE JOY OF FINDING ANOTHER PASTA LOVER. THE ADMIRATION FOR ANOTHER’S PUZZLE-SOLVING SKILLS. THE DESIRE TO HAVE A COOL, SMART PERSON THINK YOU ARE COOL.”  
Wait, this is pretty sudden. I don’t buy his friendliness gambit. Frisk seems to, despite my tugging and warning, “This feels bad, Frisk.”  
“THESE FEELINGS…THEY MUST BE WHAT YOU ARE FEELING RIGHT NOW!!!”  
What a jerk.  
“I CAN HARDLY IMAGINE WHAT IT MUST BE LIKE TO FEEL THAT WAY. AFTER ALL, I AM VERY GREAT. I DON’T EVER WONDER WHAT HAVING LOTS OF FRIENDS IS LIKE.”  
I hate this guy.  
“I PITY YOU…LONELY HUMAN…”  
He thinks he can patronise Frisk like this? How dare he!  
I’m so mad, I don’t even realise I’m folding into Frisk until they try to shrug me off and tell me to stop. I unfold and apologise. “It’s instinct. I don’t trust him.”  
“WORRY NOT!!! YOU SHALL BE LONELY NO LONGER! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE YOUR…”  
Frisk seems hopeful now, excited even, at the thought of being offered friendship. I still didn’t trust him in the slightest. This whole thing smells of ambush.  
“…NO.”  
I knew it.  
“NO, THIS IS ALL WRONG! I CAN’T BE YOUR FRIEND!!!”  
Frisk’s face drops as they realise Papyrus still wants to hurt them.  
“YOU ARE A HUMAN! I MUST CAPTURE YOU!!! THEN, I CAN FULFILL MY LIFELONG DREAM!!!”  
As he babbles on, I start to tug at Frisk’s hair. “He really wants you in a cage, dead or alive. Are you going to run, or are you going to let me handle this?”  
Frisk makes a whining noise at the pain and pushes me off. I drift off to the side, more than a little shocked that Frisk outright threw me aside, literally and figuratively. It…hurts.  
The interface forms before I have a chance to do anything else, and Frisk chooses ACT. Of course, Frisk chooses to flirt with the skeleton. Papyrus seems flustered at first, but soon starts his attack. His attacks are ridiculously easy to dodge. Frisk doesn’t even have to move.  
Frisk chooses MERCY, but it doesn’t work. Papyrus attacks again, though it’s still an easy dodge.  
Soon, Papyrus announces that he will be using his blue attack. It seems easy enough at first, but I still don’t trust him. I’m expecting a twist at any moment. And sure enough, Frisk’s soul suddenly turns blue, and Frisk freezes in shock as they lose control over the movements of their soul. They get hit by the oncoming attack, but manage to touch MERCY afterward. The next attack is much faster and more complex, and Frisk still seems confused by the new movements. They fall to the ground mid-attack and sob.  
That’s it. I’m done playing around. I threw myself into Frisk and jumped over the obstacles. When it was our turn again, Frisk stayed silent, but I could feel them tense. Reluctantly, I reached to the other end of the interface and chose MERCY. Frisk seems relieved.  
The blue attacks are fairly easy once you get used to them, so I decide to finish the fight for Frisk. Some time later, Papyrus starts threatening to use his special attack. At this point, I know that if I run, I’ll have to come back and fight him later with Frisk, or he’ll come track us down in Snowdin or the snowy plains and fight us. Running away is not an option. If I kill him, it’ll just upset Frisk, and they’ll reset and try again anyway until they can spare Papyrus. So, as much as it sits really uncomfortably in my gut, I keep hitting MERCY.  
Despite it all, I really just want to stay with Frisk. I need them. They need me. If I kill Papyrus now, it won’t just be a waste of time, it’ll make the rift between Frisk an myself even wider.  
MERCY.  
I hate using it.  
MERCY.  
I don’t really have a choice.  
MERCY.  
Soon, Papyrus announces he will use his special attack. I hesitate, weighing my options one last time.  
Run, and start again.  
Fight, and start again, most likely without Frisk.  
Spare, and progress, and earn back Frisk’s trust.  
Not really something I have to think about, as much as it feels wrong.  
MERCY.  
I brace myself for the special attack, but as Papyrus begins his attack, a small white dog appears and takes Papyrus’ bone. “HEY!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!! COME BACK HERE WITH MY SPECIAL ATTACK!!!”  
The dog runs away with the bone still in its mouth, and Papyrus runs after it. I stand confused for a moment, feeling Frisk’s confusion as well, but the colour returns to the world. It’s over.  
I release Frisk, who looks me in the eye for a long moment as if searching for something. It’s really unsettling. Then they smile a little and start collecting the coins Papyrus dropped. I guess that’s a start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chara has a change of heart...  
> Or do they?


	11. Flirtation

Frisk wanders around a while, checking things out, until they decide to turn back to Snowdin and stock up on more food after the fight. Naturally, I link up to their shoulders and tag along.  
Before they even get to the shop, Papyrus meets us outside his house. He yells something at Frisk about their date. Right, Frisk flirted with this bonehead.  
Heh.  
Bonehead.  
I get distracted thinking up bad puns, like Asriel and I used to do with mother, but I’m brought back to reality when the front door is slammed shut behind us by the wind. Papyrus seems a little confused as to how to proceed, so Frisk offers, “How about some spaghetti?”  
Papyrus brightens up at once. “OF COURSE!! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL MAKE A CULINARY MASTERPIECE FOR YOU, HUMAN!!!”  
With that, he dramatically marches into the kitchen. Noises can be heard that sound more than a little extreme for just making pasta, but Frisk seems to ignore it. They sit down on the dusty green couch. Soon, Sans appears from his room and takes a seat beside us. “hey kiddo. you here to see papyrus?”  
“Yeah, he’s making spaghetti.”  
“so you’re just sitting here to pasta time?”  
This annoys me. And I like puns, so it doesn’t make any sense.  
Frisk giggles. Now this, I can enjoy. “Frisk has a crush~” I sing.  
Frisk tires to swat my hands away as I poke their head teasingly. “Sans and Frisk sitting in a tree~”  
Frisk turns red and keeps swatting at my hands. Sans just sits back and comments, “looks like you’re in a hairy situation, there.”  
“There’s a bug.”  
“i see. is it bugging you?”  
I am so done with his jokes.  
Frisk shakes their head, seemingly comfortable now I’ve stopped poking them. “I’m fine, tibia honest.”  
I’m so done.  
“heh, that was pretty humerus, kiddo.”  
Why am I so angry?  
Paps drops something in the kitchen, causing a ruckus. “Sounds like he’s having a smashing time.”  
Sans laughs. “good thing he’s cooking for you, kiddo. you could use some meat on your bones.” He pinches Frisk’s arm, which is admittedly a bit scrawny.   
“You can’t talk.”  
He smiles. “i guess not.”  
This is driving me insane, and I don’t even know why. Am I just annoyed at the puns?  
Frisk notices the physics book on the coffee table and asks Sans, “Do you have eleven protons?”  
Sans looks a little confused, but rolls with it. “no, why?”  
“Because you are sodium cute!”  
“hm, should I make a sodium joke? na.”  
“But potassium jokes are K!”  
I can feel myself digging into Frisk. I’m not entirely sure why. They shift uncomfortably to get me to move, but I don’t. For some reason, I’m set on getting control and stopping this whole thing with Sans. I need Frisk to hurt him. I need Frisk to shut him up.  
I need Frisk.  
It comes crashing down on me all at once. I want Frisk, and Sans is a threat to that.  
He’ll take Frisk from me.  
Dammit, I’m jealous of him. Not to mention I still don’t trust him.  
Sans sighs, “look, kiddo, you seem to be a little at war with yourself here.”  
What?  
“so i’d suggest taking some time out to cool off and work things out. i’ll tell papyrus you had to do something important. wouldn’t want to stirrup trouble.” Wink.  
Oh my gosh. He freaks the hell out of me. Frisk seems pretty rattled, too, but mechanically gets up and takes Sans’ advice, promising to come back later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> San's knows what's up :O  
> And Chara's yandere levels are rising...Things are about to get interesting


	12. Confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluff incoming!  
> I enjoyed this chapter way too much, so I hope you all love it as much as I do :)

Frisk takes me to the riverside just past Snowdin, and sits in the snow with a huff. They remain silent for a long while. They seem to be considering what to say, playing with their hair to distract themself.  
I let myself settle beside Frisk and wonder for a moment about how to start. “Frisk, you need to understand that I just want to keep you safe, and the skeletons give me the creeps. They’re going to hurt you.”  
Silently, Frisk seems to contemplate this. Then, quietly, they speak. "I just thought I could teach you not to approach things violently. Neither Sans nor Papyrus is going to hurt me, Chara." Frisk seems slightly uncomfortable, and is still avoiding my eyes.  
“Frisk, you don’t understand. Sans KNOWS. He’s freaking scary. If he does try to hurt you, I won’t be able to stop him. It’ll be safer for you to just get rid of him now.”  
They sigh. Have I not made myself clear enough? Both skeletons are going to hurt them, possibly kill them. Papyrus wants to buy his way into the Royal Guard, and Sans is too aware for his own good. I've got to get them to understand that. "I've met a lot of people, here and on the surface," Frisk says, "and I figured out a while ago that Sans is aware. I'm not scared of that."  
“You should be! He’s a massive threat to us, Frisk. Imagine if Asgore finds out that if he catches you, he doesn’t just get your soul, but yours plus whatever scraps of mine are left. He’ll have every monster in the Underground after us, even more than they already are. There’ll be nowhere to hide. You have to let me silence Sans.”  
"Don't you understand what I've been trying to explain to you since the moment I entered the Underground? Why can't you understand what I've been trying to teach you?" Frisk seems...confused. Agitated, even. They're trying to bottle their rage, but I still don't understand why they're so upset in the first place.  
“Frisk.” I reach out to touch their hand softly, trying for a more emotive approach. “I need you. You don’t understand. If anything hurts you, I’ll blame myself. You’re so fragile. I don’t want you to end up like I did.” I sigh and turn away from Frisk, to gather my thoughts. “Frisk. The only way I know how to protect you is to eliminate threats. It’s all I can do, and I want-I need-to be able to do that for you. I don’t understand why you’re so insistent on throwing yourself at danger, expecting a smile and a hug to save your life. It won’t always work. It won’t work on Asgore.”  
"I've been trying to show you that violence isn't ever the answer." They laugh sadly. They sound tired. "You're so stubborn. I can't even get this one simple thing though to you." They look up, at nothing. "I don't care if I die a thousand times, I'm going to befriend my enemies no matter what they do. Everyone has some good in them, and I know that the Underground has nice monsters. I'm sure they wouldn't let Asgore be king if he wasn’t kind at heart."  
“Frisk, trust me. I fell, just like you. I befriended the monsters, just like you. Toriel adopted me, just like you. I had a home and a family. I gave my life so they would have a soul to cross the barrier with. They couldn’t even honour my dying wish, Frisk. I just asked to see some flowers. They didn’t even do that for me. Just let me die and used my soul to cross the barrier. Then on the surface, the humans attacked me and Asriel, my vessel. I can’t trust monsters. I can’t trust humans. They all tried to kill me, showed me no compassion. The only way to survive, Frisk, is to become stronger. Kill or be killed.”  
"Do you know," Frisk begins, studying the snow, "why they acted like that? I'm not saying that what they did was a good thing, but do you know, at least? I'm going to either live a determined human or die a forgiving soul. That's it."  
“I know why they did what they did, Frisk. Because they needed my soul. I meant nothing to them as long as they could use me like some tool.” I stand and kick a pile of snow. It phases through my foot. Unsatisfying. “They’ll use you the same way, Frisk. They don’t see you as a person. They see you as the final piece they need to escape their cage. They’ll use you and throw you away like trash. Even if you die for them, with all the good nature in the world, you’ll still just be a tool to them. An object.”  
"Don't you think they were genuinely sad about your death at all?” No. "They've been shut down here for several years." Serves them right. "They've been oppressed and shut out after a gigantic war, Chara."  
“They deserve it, Frisk. Human or monster, nobody is trustworthy.” I kneel and hug Frisk, letting myself anchor onto them. “You’re the only one I can trust. I’m the only one you can trust. We should destroy this world and create a new one together, where we can both be safe.”  
"What’s the point? There'd be nothing there except us. It'd be empty." Frisk lets me hug them, but they don’t seem comfortable.  
I sigh and sit up. “You still don’t get it, do you Frisk?” I smile as I frame Frisk’s face in my hands. So perfect. “A world with just us would be perfect. All I need is you.” I pull them close again, holding them to my chest. “All you need is me. Forget everyone else.”  
Frisk looks up at me, pulling away slightly, and opens their eyes. Surprisingly, they're as crimson as mine. I can’t stop staring. Beautiful. Utterly gorgeous. "I need you to understand," they say, touching my cheek softly, "that having a lot of friends is what shows me how valuable you are. Friends are good." They give me a confident, self-assured look. "Trust me."  
I decide there’s not much point hiding it at this point. Frisk doesn’t seem to understand what I’ve come to suspect. “Frisk, you don’t get it.”  
“Get what? That I'm going to die down here?" they interject. "Don't you think I don't know that? I'm not some fragile creature you have to take care of. I told you, I'll die a million times as long as I die using MERCY."  
“I’m melding into your soul, Frisk.”  
Frisk pulls away, confused and a little…disgusted?  
“What?”  
“Every time I anchor to you, or take over your body, the fragments of my soul grow more attached to yours. Each time it gets easier, and it gets harder to leave. I’m tethered to you, Frisk. I’m becoming a piece of you. You can’t understand how it feels for me, to be completely alone in a world full of people for years, then to have one fellow human show up who can not only see and hear me, but wants me around. To have your very being fuse into theirs. You’re everything to me, Frisk. Nobody else can possibly care for you, or fight as hard for you as me.” I lift their chin and touch our noses. Their eyes are so beautiful, and the smell so sweet. “I want you, Frisk. I want you all to myself in a world built just for you, where you can be safe forever. Having so many threats to you drives me crazy, Frisk. I don’t trust anyone. I can’t trust anyone. I have to save you from the world.”  
"My soul's being...connected to yours?" Frisk asks, their tone concerned, though cautious. “What happens to you?" They sound scared. I hate it. "I don't need any saving. I enjoy having you around, it's true, but…please understand that I'm not going to FIGHT anything. I want to teach you to forgive."  
“I know, Frisk, but it may not be possible. As for what happens to me, I’m not sure. I’ll keep getting fused to your soul the longer I’m around you, and now that I can’t leave, we’ll eventually be melded completely. I imagine I’ll be brought into your body and trapped in there with you.”  
"Even so, I'm determined to teach you empathy before that happens." They smile, their face lighting up. Perfect. Absolutely perfect.  
“You know, Frisk, right now I don’t really care. Like I said, all I want, all I need, is to have you. As long as you’re here, and you're safe, I don’t care what happens. I just think the best way to ensure that is to clear away any potential threats. If you insist, I’ll let you try empathy. But know that if things turn sour, I’ll be taking over to save you at any cost. But enough of that.” I rest my head against their chest, hugging them around the waist. They’re so warm. Their heartbeat is like music. “Right now, I just want to be with you for a while. Just us.”  
“I'm going to need you to promise me something, first." I look up to meet their eyes, my head still on their chest. They play with my hair reassuringly, almost lovingly. Or maybe I’m just being hopeful.  
“If you want me to promise I’ll never FIGHT anyone, I can’t make that promise. Your safety comes first over everything.”  
"No, not that." Frisk holds my face in their hands and looks me dead in the eyes. I’m both overwhelmed by the fact that they’re touching me, and they’re so very warm and soft, and more than a little scared by how serious their gaze is. "Promise me you're going to make an effort to understand what everyone here feels like. Try to make friends instead of fight."  
“That’s going to be really hard when they all want us dead.”  
“See, this is the first step. I need you to understand that even if you think that, dismiss it. Heck, even forget you ever thought it. Welcome them with open arms regardless."  
“That’s suicidal, Frisk.”  
"No, that's friendly."  
“Same thing. Look, I’m not going to stop you from using MERCY. I’m not going to complain, even, because you seem pretty set on this and I’d hate to upset you. I’ll even try to learn something, maybe. But I still maintain that if ever something happens, your safety outranks anything and everything else.” I nuzzle my cheek into Frisk’s chest. So comfortable. “Can we please just drop it for now and enjoy each other for a while?”  
“I’m not concerned about you not letting me use MERCY. I want to teach you to use MERCY by choice. Okay?" Frisk puts their nose in my hair and takes a deep breath. It tickles. Feels nice.  
“Hm, whatever you say.” I’m not convinced Frisk can change my mind, but they can try all they want. I won’t object, especially if it buys me more time to be with them like this, comfortable against their chest, wrapped in their warmth, their breath in my hair. This is what paradise must be like.  
Frisk lets go of their breath in one long, deep exhale. I feel their entire body relax. "Thank you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A slightly longer chapter this time, too. Hope you enjoyed!  
> Big thanks to http://drokiesta.tumblr.com/ for helping me through this chapter by RPing as Frisk for me :)  
> Also a big thanks for your wonderful painting of this chapter!  
> http://drokiesta.tumblr.com/image/138935494360


	13. Friction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoy this chapter. Sorry it's a tad later than usual, I got stuck for a while on this chapter. Hope you all enjoy!  
> As always, your feedback is encouraged!
> 
> I'll also start taking in-character asks on my tumblr, if anyone feels the need to visit :)

Frisk holds me for a while, and it’s wonderful. It’s been years since I’d so much as been noticed, and to speak with another person, to share feelings and actually hold them, it feels so beautifully surreal. Yet it is real, and it’s wonderful.  
All too soon, Frisk stands and stretches their limbs. I don’t bother to move. I weigh nothing, so I may as well just keep clinging to them. Frisk lets me, pets my head softly, even, and walks back to Snowdin. They knock on the door to the skeletons’ house, and Papyrus greets them with a hug. He phases right through me. “HUMAN!!! YOU HAVE RETURNED! ARE YOU ALRIGHT? DID YOU HURT YOURSELF?”  
Frisk smiles. “No, Papyrus, I just needed to go for a walk and get some air. I’m completely fine now.”  
“I’M GLAD, HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE PREPARED MY BEST SPAGHETTI FOR OUR DATE!!!”  
He lets Frisk in, takes them to the kitchen, and serves them a bowl of something that faintly resembles pasta. He takes a bowl for himself and takes it to the living room, where he sits on the couch with Sans. Sans has opted to drink a bottle of ketchup rather than try to eat Papyrus’ ‘spaghetti’. Frisk sits between the two. It’s not a bad fit. In fact, it seems quite cozy. I take the opportunity to snuggle up closer into Frisk as they chat with the brothers and try to eat. As usual, Sans isn’t above making bad jokes. “it’s a good thing you’re feeling better, kid. for a minute, i almost thought you’d been replaced by some impasta who hates skeletons.”  
He winks, and I could have sworn his eyes flicked down to me for a second. But he can’t see me. I’ve spoken to him before in my years of drifting, and never once has he shown any signs of seeing me.  
He creeps me the hell out.  
But Frisk wants me to be nice, so I bury my face in their shirt and ignore Sans. Frisk smells nice.  
I drift in and out of a trance through the date. Papyrus, at least, seems genuinely friendly. I can almost believe he’s given up on capturing or backstabbing us. Sans, on the other hand, I do not trust.  
At some point, I fade out of my trance and find that Frisk and I are halfway to Waterfall. I guess the date’s over then. Feeling the need to move a bit, I unwind from Frisk and set my feet down beside them. “Where are we going?”  
“Papyrus told me if I keep going through Waterfall and Hotlands and get to the top of the Core, I should be able to get into the castle and through to the barrier.”  
“I see. Decided to go home, have we?”  
“Well, yeah. I guess so. At least, that can be our plan for now.”  
As we enter Waterfall, we pass another of Sans’ sentry stations. Of course Frisk stops to talk, and Sans offers to take them for some food. Frisk is about to say yes, but I stop them. “Frisk, can we not?”  
Frisk looks at me confusedly. I sigh and press into them slightly, just enough to pass thoughts. “We can trust him, Chara.”  
“I don’t care, Frisk. I can’t right now, okay?” I need time to be alone with you. “You can tell Sans you might accept his offer some other time, and we’ll talk about it then. But I really can’t right now.”  
Frisk shrugs and tells Sans, “Maybe some other time.”  
Sans nods. “fine by me. wouldn’t want to leave you beside yourself with exhaustion.” Wink.  
“Sans, I’d appreciate it if you could stop bringing that up.”  
“bringing what up?”  
I take hold of Frisk, though they try to fight me off. “Just wanna talk, Frisk.” They reluctantly let me have a scrap of control for a moment to snap, “Don’t play dumb, Sans. You know damn well what Frisk means and you’d better stop, or I may lose my temper.”  
Sans stares for a moment. “heh, was that a threat? fine, I’ll stop bringing it up. for now, at least.”  
Frisk leaves the sentry station, and we continue through the ankle-deep water. Once out of earshot, Frisk says, “I told you we can trust him. He’s friendly.”  
“He threatened us.”  
“When?”  
“In his tone.”  
“Chara, you’re paranoid.”  
“He threatened us, Frisk!”  
“You threatened him first.”  
I really didn’t have anything to say to that. “I don’t like his attitude.”  
“You don’t like anyone’s attitude.”  
“That’s because everyone’s an asshole.”  
Frisk turned to me with a slightly hurt look.  
“Uh, not you! I mean, you’re annoying, with your insistence on playing the goody-two-shoes, which I guess counts, but it’s better than everyone else who wants you dead.”  
Frisk turns away from me in silence. Dammit, I hurt them. I hate dealing with emotions.  
“Frisk, I didn’t mean to upset you.”  
“Well, you did.”  
“Frisk, please. You know what you mean to me.”  
Frisk stops walking and stares at a piece of trash bobbing in the water.  
“Frisk?”  
Frisk sighs. “Convincing you to be nice is going to take a lot of work, huh?”  
“Probably.”  
“You won’t even make an effort for me?”  
“It’s more important that I protect you.”  
Frisk huffs and keeps walking, not offering a reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, shoutout to my boyfriend who wrote this for my fic  
> http://jaroke.tumblr.com/post/139096999716/my-side-of-the-story-omake  
> Love you <3


	14. Convention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry on being a tad late again, I'll try have the next one in on time!
> 
> Hope you all enjoy :)

Frisk waded through the now knee-deep water, muttering to themself. I caught parts of it over the sound of the rushing water.  
“Unbelievable…so stupid…should have known…dumb promise…”  
I got the impression that maybe now wasn’t the time to talk about it. We continued for a while with no sound other than splashing water and Frisk’s angry muttering. Pretty soon we found a patch of long grass, and Frisk was halfway through when they froze. “What’s wrong, Frisk?”  
“Sh.”  
I heard voices. It sounded like Papyrus, and someone else I didn’t recognise. Papyrus was telling them he had failed to capture us. He tried to persuade them that we were friendly, but they wouldn’t hear it. Soon, Papyrus left, and I was feeling very unsettled about the motives of this other monster. “Frisk, we have to go.”  
Without reply, Frisk started through the grass again. Unfortunately, whoever it was heard their footsteps. I heard heavy metallic footsteps coming closer on the ledge above us. Without thinking, I grabbed Frisk and threw them down into the grass. “Chara, what-”  
“Shush, stay hidden.”  
We looked up to see an amoured monster holding a blue spear, aimed directly at us.  
Please don’t see us. Please no. I can’t fight you up there.  
Whoever it was soon tires of waiting for us to show ourselves, and their spear vanishes. They back away from the ledge and seem to vanish.  
Frisk stands, brushes some dead grass off of their clothes, and continues. “Aren’t you concerned about this, Frisk?”  
“Why should I be?”  
“Whoever that was clearly wants to hurt you. Kill you, even.”  
“I told you, Chara. I’ll die a thousand times as long as I die using MERCY.”  
“That doesn’t mean you have to walk into fights, Frisk!”  
“I have to keep going, or it’s going back to Snowdin.”  
I can’t do that. Sans is too unpredictable, and I don’t trust him. At least I know I can fight whoever this new person is. Sans, I’m not so sure.  
Frisk continues in silence. I seem to have really hurt their feelings somehow. I wonder if I can make it up to them. How would I make it up to them? I don’t have anything to give, and there’s not much I can do, and I doubt Frisk will listen to me give the same apology again. Ugh. Why are emotions so difficult?  
We soon reach a room where the armoured person appears again. They throw spears at Frisk, who just barely manages to dodge. Frisk is still recovering when a second attack flies at us, and Frisk is hit. They loose a good fraction of their HP, and stumble. A third attack is about to launch. “Frisk?”  
Frisk nods, clearly hating the idea, but knowing better then to argue. I fold myself into them and get up, running for the other end of the hallway. I duck under and around spears, jump over some, and get hit by a few. All in all I manage to get Frisk out of the corridor with about 4HP remaining. I release Frisk, and they collapse, panting for air. “I have no idea how you do that.”  
“It’s easier not to react to pain when you’ve been dead as long as I have. Faster recovery from each hit, less hits overall.”  
Frisk stands and pulls a popsicle from their pocket. The wrapper reads ‘Nice Cream’. They start eating it, and their HP goes back up. They throw the wrapper onto one of the piles of trash and keep walking.  
“Are you still angry with me?”  
“I’m angry at both of us.”  
“Why?”  
Frisk seems a little taken aback that I would ask why, rather than going straight into begging for forgiveness. “What?”  
“I want to know exactly what I did wrong.”  
Frisk sighs. “You refuse to listen to me.”  
“You refuse to listen to me. I don’t get upset.”  
Frisk mumbles to themself before continuing, “Well, from now on, we both try to listen more. And try what the other person says. Exception on killing people.”  
“Exception on trusting everyone regardless of how little they deserve it.”  
“So, I agree not to trust everyone the second I meet them, and you promise not to kill anyone?”  
“Not quite. You promise to at least try to figure out a person’s motives before trusting them. I promise not to lay a finger on anyone we both agree is trustworthy.”  
“And if they’re not?”  
“I rough them up. If they refuse to surrender, I kill them. But I offer them plenty of chances to leave us alone first.”  
Frisk considers this for a moment. “Alright. Deal.”  
I hold out a hand to them. They take it and shake it.  
“What happens if we break the deal?”  
“If you break the deal, I get to keep partial control over your body at all times, in case of emergency.”  
“And if you break the deal…” Frisk pauses to think. “If you break the deal, you have to let me do whatever I want and not ever try to take control, or even tell me what to do.”  
Harsh. But, I’ll take it.  
Anything so Frisk keeps me here.


	15. Trepidation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late again. I have no excuse, sorry.  
> Trigger warning on this chapter for anyone with anxiety. (I mean, I have anxiety and I was okay writing it, so you might be fine, but just in case)  
> For the rest of you, hope you enjoy :)

Things pass pretty calmly until we run into the armoured monster again. This time they sent spears up through the ground in a series of portals. Frisk has a hard time dodging around them all. When they’re down to half HP, I take their hand. “Frisk, I can do this for you.”  
Reluctantly, they nod, and I fold into their skin. I duck around the portals and through the maze until I eventually run into a dead end. I’m about to go back and try a different path, but the armoured monster appears and blocks the way. A set of blue spears flies towards the ground in front of me, and the whole section of floor, Frisk and I included, falls.  
Frisk is knocked unconscious on impact. Being fused into them, I was locked in their body in a sort of dreamlike trance. I saw a scrap of another memory of falling, of being found in a bed of flowers. “Chara, huh? That’s a nice name. My name is-”  
Frisk wakes up before the memory can finish. I let go of their body and rest beside them on the bed of golden flowers. They seem a little dazed. “Was that…?”  
I nod. “A memory of mine. When I fell.”  
“Who was that? Was that Toriel as a child?”  
“It doesn’t matter. It was a very, very long time ago.”  
Frisk gives me an odd look, but shrugs and gets up. The amount of trash is absolutely disgusting, but Frisk doesn’t hesitate to jump into the waist-deep water and wade onward. We turn a corner into more trash and filth. Frisk stops to investigate an old bike, an anime DVD, and a cooler, in which they find two bars of frozen food. They pocket both and continue onward.   
As we climb the ramp to the door ahead of us, a small white creature scuttles in front of us. “What’s that?”  
I shrug. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”  
Its wings look a lot like a Whimsalot, but the rest of it looks more like a Woshua. And all of it is melty and indistinct, anyway. It creeps me out, but it’s fairly small, and looks unhealthy. I’m pretty confident Frisk could kill or outrun it with ease.  
“I thought you knew all the monsters down here.”  
“I do, but this is new.”  
The thing, whatever it was, sat in front of us, oozing and bubbling slightly. Gross. Frisk tried to walk around it, but as soon as we got close, the interface popped up. Frisk tried to talk to it, but to no effect. Its attack was so easy to dodge it was comical. Frisk, however, was freaked out, even more than I was, eyes brimming with tears. They seemed to be frozen to the spot. “Frisk?”  
No reply. Frisk makes a dry wheezing noise, shaking so badly they very nearly fall over. “Frisk? Frisk, come on, talk to me!”  
No reply. Frisk manages to meet my eyes, and starts to form sounds that vaguely resemble words, but broken and choked dry. Before they can say anything coherent, Frisk collapses completely.   
Okay, now I’m starting to panic. Frisk practically just had a seizure in front of me. No, wait. There it is. They start convulsing on the ground, still unconscious, and white as a sheet.   
As much as I really, really want to help Frisk get out of this crazy panic attack, they’re still in a fight. The interface hovers in front of us, even as Frisk starts gagging on their own saliva. I’m not sure if it will work, but I press SPARE hoping with all I have left that we can run away.  
We can.  
I grab Frisk and drag them away as fast as I can. When we’re a safe distance away, I lie them down on their side, so they won’t choke again. At least the seizure seems to have stopped. A few minutes after, Frisk comes to, and groggily tries to sit up, only to moan and curl up on the floor. “Frisk?”  
“I feel dizzy. And sick.”  
“Frisk, what happened?”  
“I don’t know. I feel sick.”  
I have a vague recollection that in situations like these, you need to reinforce their sense of orientation. “Frisk, where are we?”  
“Um. We’re in the Waterfall.”  
“Good. Who am I?”  
“Chara.”  
“And why are we here?”  
“Running from the monster trying to kill us.”  
“Good. Can you sit?”  
“Uh-uh.”  
“Okay. Take your time. Is there anything I can do?”  
Frisk shakes their head.  
I wait several minutes, and eventually Frisk manages to sit up. They look terrible, and they’re shaking. Their breathing is too shallow for my liking. But eventually they calm down, and seem more or less themself. They take a piece of Toriel’s candy from their pocket and start sucking on it. “Helps stop the sick feeling. So I won’t vomit.”  
“Sure.”  
When they finish their candy, they shiver a little, and start crying silently. “Was it really that scary?”  
Frisk sniffles. “It was.”  
“Frisk. I’ll protect you, you know that. Say the word and I’ll kill anything.”  
“I don’t want you to.”  
Deciding that talking wouldn’t help much, I sat beside Frisk until they were done crying. We stay for a while even after that, just appreciating the calm and quiet, as Frisk calmed themself completely. With full HP and an apparently calm mind, Frisk stood, and we continued on. I was going to be a lot more watchful from now on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary for those who skipped the chapter; Chara and Frisk meet an unknown monster, and it scares Frisk to an anxiety attack. Chara gets scared, and is determined (lol) to keep it from happening again.
> 
> Also, for anyone who wants to know, Frisk's anxiety attack here is almost exactly like one I actually had once. So yes, this is what it's like. Seizure and all. (I also had a very weak pulse during that attack and the dentist who was working on me actually thought I was dead for a minute).


	16. Apparition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late again...this is becoming a habit ^^;  
> Hoping to sit down and write out plans for every other chapter after this one right away, so hopefully that helps me post on time without getting stuck.  
> (though today I was out with my boyfriend all day so I suppose I have an excuse)  
> Anyway, hope you all enjoy this chapter! A bit short, but some nice feels :) Oh, and Blooky!

We don’t make it far before a familiar ghost appears. Seeing Frisk and apparently sensing their anxiety, Napstablook drifts over and asks, “are you feeling okay…you look a bit sick…”  
Frisk shrugs. “Could be better, I guess.”  
“Oh…i’m sorry…um…if you want to come hang out, my house is just up ahead…or not…just thought i’d offer, in case you wanted to just relax for a while…”  
Frisk gives a weak smile and nods. “That sounds great, thanks.”  
“oh…really? okay, this way…”  
I’d rather not let Frisk run off into a monster’s home, but I suppose Napstablook is no stranger to anxiety, so he probably knows best about how to deal with it. I guess I have to chance it. After all, we have met Napstablook before, and he didn’t make much of an attempt to hurt us, even before Frisk made friends with him.  
That doesn’t comfort me much at all. But it’ll have to do.  
Napstablook leads us forwards a little ways to two oddly shaped houses. He opens the door to one of them and leads us inside. He hovers silently in the corner, waiting for Frisk to do something. Frisk takes a while looking around the room. Napstablook offers them a ghost sandwich, which they fail to eat, and the two of them ‘lie down on the floor and feel like garbage’. I take the discarded ghost sandwich and take a bite. Not bad.   
I finish my sandwich and join Frisk and Napstablook on the floor. Things become so calm and relaxed, I could almost feel space and time moving. Space and time. Here in the Underground, Frisk and I control both.  
I soon loose myself in a trance, and I’m woken by Frisk nudging me while discussing music with Napstablook. I anchored to their shoulders and listened to the two dribble on for a while. At least Frisk seems much calmer. I suppose Napstablook is no stranger to anxiety, so he probably knows best about how to deal with it. In fact, he now has Frisk giggling at his impression of one of the songs. I suppose, at least this time, trust paid off.  
After spending a little more time chilling out with Napstablook, Frisk decides it’s time to leave, and thanks the ghost warmly. Napstablook seems a little taken aback, but happy. “oh…that’s okay…you’re a nice person, so…you can visit any time…if you want to…no pressure…”  
Frisk grins. “I’d like that very much, if I get the chance. Thanks again, Blooky.”  
With that, they leave.  
We walk a while, Frisk humming some of Napstablook’s music to themselves cheerily. Soon they stop humming and ask, “Hey Chara?”  
“Yeah?”  
“Blooky’s a ghost, right?”  
“Yeah.”  
“How come he can’t see you?”  
I sighed. “It’s a bit more complex than us just being ghosts. Napstablook is a ghost monster. He was born a ghost. He’s always been a ghost. That’s his only form of existence. I’m not a monster, and I was alive once. That puts me in a completely different league to Napstablook. Think like the skeleton monsters, and human skeletons. Just because we have the same ‘category’ doesn’t mean we’re the same.”  
“I think I get it.”  
“Good.”  
At the snail farm, Frisk stops to admire Napstablook’s snails, and chats with him another short while. They say goodbye again and head off through the rest of waterfall, happily whistling ghost music to themself.  
As much as I was happy to see them back to normal, it kind of perturbed me. Something about that music feels off. Maybe it’s just because I’m dead. After all, Frisk seems fine.  
Or maybe it’s not because I’m dead. Frisk stumbles across a Woshua and an Aaron, who get so freaked out by the tune they leave at once without even putting up a fight. It’s actually hilarious seeing Aaron so freaked out, when he was such a creep himself.  
Well. That’s another good thing to come from Napstablook, I guess.  
Maybe some monsters are okay, after all.


	17. Caution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, first of all, I'm sorry for not updating sooner. I have gotten sick and I find it difficult to write at the moment. Expect updates to slow down or stop until I feel better. Sorry guys :/  
> I love you all, and thank you for your patience.

We soon meet an old shopkeeper who changes my mind on the kindness of some monsters. The cantankerous old fool is at least somewhat helpful, but he insists on being abrasive. Whatever. Frisk buys some new gear and a few Crab Apples from him, talks for a while, then continues down the corridor.  
We don’t make it far before the familiar clang of metal footsteps can be heard. A nearby echo flower whispers, “Behind you.” Frisk turns just in time to see the armoured monster summon a blue spear and ready it for attack. Suddenly, a kid jumps out from nowhere. I recognise him vaguely from Snowdin.  
“Yo! You got front row seats to Undyne’s fight!”  
Undyne. I’ve heard that name before.  
The idiot kid looks from Undyne to us, then back to Undyne in confusion. “Wait, who’s she fighting?”  
Undyne grabs the Monster Kid and drags him away, presumably to be lectured. Even as Undyne drags him, he wails, “You’re not gonna tell my parents, are you?”  
Frisk and I are given peace and quiet again for a while. Frisk walks to the end of the passageway and stops, sitting down. I sit beside them. “We heard Papyrus mention Undyne before, right Frisk?”  
Frisk nods.  
“She want to kill us and harvest your soul.”  
Frisk nods sadly.  
“If you don’t kill her, she’ll keep hunting you down.”  
Frisk nods.  
“Are you gonna let me handle this?”  
Frisk stands with a huff. “No, I’m not. I’m going to use MERCY on her.”  
“Frisk, she’ll kill you!”  
“Then I‘ll reset.”  
“Don’t do it to yourself.”  
They’re not listening. They’re already halfway to the bridge. I sigh and float after them.  
Before we can even cross the bridge, the annoying kid shows up again. “Yo…you’re a human, right?” Frisk nods.  
Idiot kid continues some ramble about hating humans, and asks Frisk to insult them. “Tell him he’s a pathetic whelp and a waste of air.”  
Frisk, however, refuses to insult him. Instead, he offers, “I hate your guts.” Which would have really pissed me off, if the kid didn’t fall off the bridge. Satisfying.  
Frisk tries to help him, but I hold them back. They struggle with me for a while until they eventually get fed up, shove me away, and run after the kid. Well, great, now the world has one more moron I have to deal with.  
Despite this, Undyne, who’s watching at the time, seems mildly impressed with Frisk, if only for a moment, and allows us to continue in peace.  
For about half a minute.  
Then she blocks our path.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm aware that this chapter isn't the best I've done. As I said, I'm sick, and it's really hard for me to get the creative juices flowing. If people ask for a rewrite of this chapter I will be happy to do one as soon as I'm up to it.  
> Thanks again guys.  
> Also, I fixed the asks on my Tumblr, so I will be taking in-character asks for real now. I'll try to at least get those done quickly for you.  
> http://zimixtia.tumblr.com/ask


	18. Hesitation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm not completely over the sick yet, but I had a rush of inspiration between headaches, so here you go!  
> Also, I will be moving house next week. So even after I get better, updates will be slow. Expect every 2nd or 3rd day for a while, rather than every day.  
> However, feel free to message my Tumblr anytime! I'm also looking for people to do a casual Undertale RP, so if you're interested, please let me know :)

“Seven.”  
They’re still going for that plan?  
“Seven human souls, and King Asgore will become a god.”  
They actually are.  
“Six.”  
Wow, they’ve gotten pretty far, too.  
“That’s how many we’ve collected thus far. Understand?”  
Frisk is shivering, clearly terrified at having their soul harvested.  
“Through your seventh and final soul, this world will be transformed. First, however, as is customary for those who make it this far, I shall tell you the tragic tale of our people. It all started, long ago…”  
Here we go. This is going to be boring.  
Wait, did she stop? She just stopped without even finishing her sentence.  
“No, you know what?”  
Oh no.  
“SCREW IT! WHY SHOULD I TELL THAT STORY WHEN YOU’RE ABOUT TO DIE!?! NGAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”  
She throws her helmet aside, revealing a blue fish-like face and red hair. She glared at Frisk through her unpatched eye. “YOU! You’re standing in the way of everyone’s hopes and dreams!”  
Blah, blah.  
“Alphys’ history books made me think humans were cool…”  
What history books?  
“With their giant robots and flowery swordswomen.”  
Right, she thinks manga is actually real.  
“BUT YOU? You’re just a coward!”  
I tune out for the rest of the speech. It’s ridiculous, anyway.  
When she finally shuts up, Frisk puts on a look of determination and marches forwards. Undyne leaps down at them, spear in hand, and the interface springs up.  
“En guarde!”  
Our soul is green. That’s new.  
Wait, our soul? Since when did it become ours?  
Frisk’s soul is green.  
Frisk, as expected, tells Undyne they don’t want to fight. Undyne ignores them.  
“As long as you’re green you can’t escape!” Good to know. “Unless you learn to face danger head on…”  
She tosses Frisk a spear.  
“You won’t last a SECOND against ME!”  
Frisk throws down the spear. “No. I won’t fight you.”  
Three spears shoot right through their soul. Frisk gags and collapses, blood pooling on their stomach. Frantic, I checked the HP.  
0HP.  
No, they can’t be dead.  
No.  
No no no no nonononono…  
Now what?  
I have nothing.  
I start to sob for the first time in years. Probably the first time since I died.  
Frisk is gone.  
They’re dead.  
They’re dead and it’s all Undyne’s fault.  
In a rage, I get up to attack Undyne.  
But she’s not there.  
In the place of the regular interface, a single button sits against pitch blackness.  
RESET.  
I hit the button.  
Suddenly, we’re back to when Undyne finishes her spiel and attacks. Frisk seems shaken, and checks where they were bleeding. “I’m…alive?”  
“Yeah, and you’re damn lucky I could save you. Now do you understand? You have to fight!”  
“I won’t!”  
“Frisk, listen to me. You realise you went back on our promise, right? You trusted someone without thinking, and it got you killed. You know what that means, right?”  
Frisk stares at the ground, looking defeated.  
“I’ll take permanent partial control. If this happens again, I’ll take full control. Understand?”  
Frisk nods, sadly.  
“Hey, don’t be so glum. I’ll just defend for you. I won’t make you attack unless it’s really, totally necessary.”  
Frisk nods again, silently. I fold into them and take partial hold over them. We walk forwards. Undyne attacks.  
I use the spear she gave us to block her oncoming attacks. I leave most of the fighting, or lack thereof, to Frisk.  
0HP.  
Damn you, Undyne.  
I reset Frisk and we try again.  
Block.  
Dodge.  
Weave.  
Beg.  
0HP.

This time, after we reset, I watch more carefully. When Undyne looses her cool, I grab full hold of Frisk and run. “Chara, what are you-”  
“I have a plan, Frisk.”  
“Do you? Looks like you’re just running blindly.”  
“She’s a fish, Frisk.”  
“So?”  
“So, we’re going to Hotlands. Some lava, some dry heat. It’ll do her a world of good.”  
“Chara, you can’t!”  
“Oh, come on. It won’t kill her. Just make her pass out or something. Enough for us to get away.”  
Sure enough, we soon make it to Hotlands. Undyne continues running after us at first, but soon slows, and eventually collapses. I stop to catch my breath and surrender part of the control to Frisk. “There, told you so.”  
Frisk looks around. They see a water cooler.  
“Frisk, don’t you dare.”  
“She’s dying, Chara.”  
“Frisk, if she hurts you-”  
“Then you can have full control. Fine. But I want to make my best effort to be merciful.”  
Frisk takes a cup of water and tips it on Undyne.  
She gets up and glares at Frisk.  
I prepare to take over.  
She turns around.  
Wait, what?  
She walks away.  
She’s ignoring us. Letting us go.  
“Frisk, what-”  
“Hah! I knew it! Now we have a chance at making friends with her.”  
“You really are insufferable, Frisk.”  
Frisk giggles and skips back into Waterfall after Undyne.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bet you weren't expecting Frisk to be the first to break the deal.  
> Things are getting interesting.


	19. Visitation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this is super late ^^; My new house doesn't have internet yet, so I can only post when I go out for wi-fi...plus with classes starting and unpacking to do I haven't had much time to write, either. But, this chapter is a bit longer than usual, so I hope that makes up for it a little.  
> Enjoy!

Frisk goes right back to Undyne’s house, despite my protests, and meets Papyrus out front. “Hey there, Paps.”  
“HELLO HUMAN!”  
Before I can force a protest, Papyrus shoves an orange bone into our arms - Frisk’s arms - and knocks on the door.  
Undyne is less than happy to see us, but she lets us in. Papyrus literally backflips out of the room, leaving me and Frisk alone with the thing that tried to kill us only minutes ago. At first she’s very opposed to being friends, and I’m relieved that I don’t have to go to the trouble of monitoring things, but then Papyrus, the greatest of imbeciles, makes it a challenge.  
He challenged her to be friends with us. And now she HAS to.  
Great.

Undyne is annoying and violent and I want her far, far away from my Frisk. Frisk, on the other hand, seems to be loving this ‘hang out’. I want this over with. “Frisk, just sit doen and progress already.”  
Frisk pouts and asks Undyne about her piano, prompting a story about some apparent man-slut Undyne had in her house once. “Frisk.” Now the sword. “Frisk, please.” Really? The broken glass? “Frisk!” I force their legs over to the table mechanically and force them to sit down.   
“What was that for?” Their voice echoes in my mind.   
“I’m being nice, letting you hang out with the psycho fish murderess, and the least you can do is not prolong my torture.”  
“Oh, boo. She’s funny. You just have attitude.”  
“She literally tried to steal your soul.”  
Frisk ignores me and tries to get up, only to fall back into the seat as a spear splits the table in two.  
“See? She’s dangerous.”  
Frisk still ignores me, and when asked to choose a drink, points at Undyne, grinning. Undyne seems confused. “Are you…hitting on me?”  
Frisk giggles.  
“Oh my word, Frisk, are you going to flirt with everything that wants you dead?”  
“It’s fun.”  
For half a second I almost consider attacking Frisk. Not quite sure why. It’s insane.  
“The tea is obviously the right choice, Frisk.”  
Frisk boos at me with mock disappointment, but chooses the tea. As Frisk and Undyne drink tea and talk, I decide to think.  
I wanted to kill Frisk.  
Why the hell would I even consider hurting Frisk? They’re far too precious.  
I need to keep them.  
…  
I’m jealous. I’m freaking jealous of all these crazy psychopaths who get Frisk to flirt with them after three minutes of attacking them, when I've been helping them through hours and several resets just to be left back-seat driving and unloved.  
I want Frisk to give me the attention they give to other scum.  
I want Frisk to give me all the attention.  
I want Frisk.  
I find my consciousness coiling tighter and tighter around Frisk’s soul, and I barely notice how constricting it is until Frisk gives me a mental nudge.  
“That hurts.”  
“I’m sorry. Kind of my way of hugging.” I loosen my grip. “Got carried away.”  
“You feeling okay, Chara?”  
“We can talk about it when fish lady goes away. When it’s just us.”  
“Chara.”  
“I’ll be fine until then, Frisk.” I give their soul a soft squeeze, loving the fact that they’re worried for me.   
To my surprise, Frisk’s consciousness coils gently around mine, as though hugging me, as I hug their soul. It feels nice.  
So nice, it puts me to sleep.

I wake up some time later as Frisk gives me a slight jolt. We seem to be standing by the water cooler in Hotlands, completely alone. “Chara?”  
“Yeah. We can talk.”  
“Come out here and face me, please.” I slide out of Frisk’s body and stand in front of them, facing them. “Talk to me.”  
I don’t talk. I throw my arms around Frisk and I sob. Frisk seems startled, but doesn’t hesitate to hug back and hum softly to me. “Chara, please, what’s wrong?”  
“I love you, Frisk. I love you so much and it hurts, because I don’t know how to show it or what to do with it, and all I do is get jealous and protective and you hate me for it and-”  
“Shush.” Frisk gives me a gentle squeeze. “I don’t hate you, Chara. I promise you, the only negative feeling I have towards you is concern. I’m worried you’ll hurt yourself or someone else. So please, just sit and we’ll talk this out. Slowly, from the start.”  
I don’t sit. I keep holding Frisk like a lifeline. But I do talk. “It hurts.”  
“What hurts?”  
“Every part of my incorporeal being hurts. I have so few emotions left but they all go crazy around you, and it’s tiring, and it hurts.”  
“I’m sorry.”  
“Don’t be. You make me feel alive.”  
After a pause, Frisk murmurs, “I’m not sure I understand, Chara.”  
“Not sure I do, either. All I know is that every last shred of whatever remains of my soul screams at me to keep you.”  
“Keep?”  
“Protect you. Stay by you. Ensure you stay a part of who I am and what I do. Keep you.”  
“And it hurts you?”  
“It drives me crazy. Especially when you run around throwing yourself at danger and flirting with everyone and…and I’m worried about you.”  
“You don’t like it when I flirt with other monsters?”  
“Of course not, silly.” I let go of them and stand, giving them a weak smile. “Of course I don’t like it. It makes me jealous as hell.”  
Frisk pauses for a long moment, seeming deep in thought. Their expression is unreadable.  
Terrifying.  
They meet my eyes after a while. “You mean romantic love.”  
“What did you think I meant?”  
Pause.  
“I thought you meant like a sibling, or a best friend, or something like that.”  
“Frisk, you are my entire universe. I would happily throw everything else away for you without even thinking. I want nothing but for you to be safe, and for me to be with you. I love you like a part of my own being.”  
“Oh.”  
Pause.  
A long pause.  
Okay, this is turning into more than just an awkward silence. It’s been at least two full minutes.  
“Frisk?”  
“Is it even possible? You’re dead. You don’t have a soul.”  
“You are my life and my soul. My vessel. A part of my own self.”  
Frisk steps back, affronted. “I never agreed to that.”  
“Not directly. But you never opposed me using you as a vessel.”  
“So that’s all I am? It wouldn’t matter who I was as long as you had a body to use?”  
“It’s not like that, Frisk.”  
“You make it sound like it is.”  
“I’ve had vessels before.”  
A long pause. Frisk shuffles a little, waiting for me to go on.  
“After I died and before you fell, there were six other humans. All of them could at least hear me, at least part of the time. Some of them could see me and talk with me like you do, sometimes. If they concentrated. I was able to take over them, help them, offer advice, all the things I do for you. The connection wasn’t as strong, but it was similar.”  
“And?”  
“And, I’ve never felt this way before. I mean, before, it was just two people using each other for mutual advantage, like we had an unspoken contract. It wasn’t unpleasant in the least, but…With you, there’s an actual connection. I’m fusing to your soul. I want to follow you and protect you to the end of time. Even after you die, I hope we can stay together like this, minus the body.”  
Pause.  
“You’re not just a vessel, Frisk. You were at the start. A very interesting vessel, one able to perceive me as well as a living person. Something special I wanted to protect. And maybe it’s selfish, but I want to keep that. You’re not just a body for me to borrow. You’re a soul that I treasure.”  
“Chara…”  
I rest a hand over Frisk’s chest, and half-accidentally, I draw their soul out in front of them. We both stare at it a long while. I smile. “Even if you were nothing but this, Frisk,” I cupped their soul in my hands, feeling the warmth of it pulse softly, “even if this was all there was, I would feel the same way. The way you feel, and think, and live…The way you see the world. As much as it may infuriate me, or scare me…” I pause. “It only scares me because I worry for you. I’ve never met a human as kind as you. Not even that green soul was as gentle as you.” I drew their soul up to my mouth and pressed a soft kiss to it. Frisk shivered. “So determined. So strong. I really shouldn’t worry for you, but it’s all I know how to do.”  
“Chara.”  
I run a finger along their soul, making them shiver again and whimper softly. “It’s so beautiful and perfect, Frisk. So, so precious.”  
“Ch-Chara…”  
I press the soul to my lips again, humming a reply. Frisk makes an odd noise and reaches shakily towards the red heart in my hands. “Chara, stop…” they whine, in a tone that says they really don’t want me to stop.  
Hm, must feel nice to have your soul touched.  
Oh.  
Oops.  
If I had skin, I’d be blushing redder than the soul I’m holding. I pass it back to Frisk, helping them put it back into their chest. “Sorry about that. I didn’t realise.”  
Frisk smiles, still a touch out of breath. “Just warn me next time.”  
“There can be a next time?”  
“Maybe.”  
Thoughts of Frisk allowing me, asking me to play with their soul started flooding my mind. It must have been several minutes later when Frisk finally brought me back to reality. “Chara?”  
“Sorry. Just thinking how cute you’d look if I tried licking it.”  
Frisk rolls their eyes. “You’re gross.”  
“Sorry.”  
“No, you’re not.”  
I shrug. Frisk sighs.  
“Either way, it’s getting hot just standing here. Let’s get going.”  
I fold myself partway into Frisk, coiling gently around their soul. They look uncomfortable with it. Aw. I decide I’d better leave it alone, and I unwrap from the soul, prompting a smile from Frisk.  
Nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, that happened. I wrote this chapter half-asleep so it might need a rewriting...Just send me a message with tips if you think it needs an edit. And all kinds of feedback are welcome anytime ^^


	20. Introduction

We soon happen upon a large white building which I recognise as Alphys’ lab. Frisk goes to check if the door’s unlocked, and it slides open automatically. Convenient.  
Maybe too convenient.  
The room inside is dark. If I didn’t know Alphys, I’d think this was the epitome of suspicious. But I do know Alphys, and knowing her, she’s probably trying to catch up on sleep after binging anime.  
Frisk seems a little more upset. I give their soul a soft, reassuring touch. “This is normal for here. Don’t get scared yet.”  
“Not like you to be trusting, Chara.”  
“No, it isn’t. But I spend a lot of time watching anime with Alphys.”  
“Alphys?”  
“She lives here.”  
“She can see you?”  
“In all honesty, if she knew she had company, she would have been a bit more selective with her choice in anime.”  
“Oh.” Frisk tries to look disgusted, but can’t help giggling. That’s nice. I find myself smiling, too. I like happy Frisk.  
Alphys soon comes into the room and bumbles over herself as usual. She’s harmless. At least, when unarmed, she’s harmless. I don’t trust her contraptions.  
In fact, she’s almost funny, with how nervous and flustered she is over literally nothing.  
“Anti-human combat features…”  
Wait.  
What.  
“And he’s kind of, um, thirsty for human blood?”  
Okay. This is where I grab Frisk and run the hell away. I grab hold of the body and I’m about to bolt, but the wall breaks open and a rectangle on a wheel appears. Looks harmless. Acts harmless.  
Ah, there’s the threat.  
Wait…  
Death by quiz show?  
This is new.  
Whatever. If I answer right, Frisk survives. That’s what matters.   
“First question! What is your prize for answering correctly?”  
After a moment of thought, Frisk announces, “I have no idea, but this one sounds like fun!”  
They get an electric shock and lose half their HP.  
Okay, now I’m pissed off. For a moment I’m tempted to just flip this box over so he can’t move, but then I notice Alphys standing in the corner, signaling the correct answers to Frisk. “Hey, Frisk, look over there.”  
Frisk turns to look. After a moment of puzzlement, it dawns on them. “Oh! She’s giving us the answers!”  
After I pointed out that Alphys was helping, Frisk seemed to answer the questions with ease. Mettaton was much harder to read. He either loved that there was such a good contestant on his show, or hated that Frisk was making things difficult for him. Probably both.  
This continues, and ends with Alphys utterly humiliated on live television. I’m tempted to find it amusing, but with Mettaton after Frisk’s soul, I decide against it.   
The only other person allowed near that soul is me.  
Although. If things continue this way, with Mettaton being a useless threat and Alphys being a total loser, this might turn out to be fun. As long as Frisk stays safe, I might actually enjoy this.  
As we leave, I see something white and gooey in the corner. Frisk notices it too, and turns to look. But there’s nothing there. Odd.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter, but it refused to grow no matter how long I tried to make it. The chapter ends where it ends, as I writer I have to submit to that I guess ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> (Posting this during a lecture which maybe isn't wise, but meh.)
> 
> Edited it and added a bit more Mettaton. Sorry if you wanted more, this felt most natural.


	21. Agitation

Almost the same moment as leaving Alphys’ lab, Frisk gets a notification that she’s updated her status. Useless information.  
Three paces later we get another notification. Doesn’t she have an anime to watch or something?  
Another one. Stupid cutesy emoticons. I don’t even care about what she has to say, but Frisk insists on stopping every time they get a notification.  
“Frisk, I am this close to throwing the phone into the lava.”  
Frisk shrugs. “It is a bit annoying, but I don’t want to miss something important.”  
“Frisk, I mean it. If we get another notification before we make it past this conveyor belt, I’m done.”  
Ding.  
I draw back my arm to throw the phone into the lava.  
“Chara, stop!”  
I hesitate.  
“Okay, you need a break from this. I get that. We still haven’t hung out with Sans. We can do this later.”  
Hanging out with Sans really doesn’t seem like a much better idea, but Frisk looks so hopeful. Dumb kid still has a crush on Sans, even after…  
Whatever. If Sans makes a wrong move, I’ll end him. 

Sans meets us back at his station in Waterfall and gladly brings us to Grillby’s for some food. I try not to be annoyed as Frisk carelessly chatters and flirts with the skeleton. I mean, really. Literally less than an hour ago we talked about this. I’m not good enough, I guess.  
Sans makes meaningless chatter in response, until after Grillby serves the food, when he pauses as turns serious. “i wanna ask you something.”  
Okay, now I’m interested. And time stops. I mean, literally. Everything outside of a tiny circle containing us and Sans is frozen in time. Now I’m really interested, and really scared.  
Sans knows. He can freeze time. What next? He knows about Asriel and timelines, I suppose.  
“have you ever heard of a talking flower?”  
Okay.  
That’s it.  
This isn’t natural. It’s not funny. This is really, really freaking scary. A talking flower that gives predictions?  
Right. Sans isn’t human. He shouldn’t know this stuff. How does he know?  
Frisk knows by a combination of being a human, which gives some innate knowledge in and of itself, and because they have me as a guide. Sans has neither.  
…  
Wait.  
As Sans and Frisk meaninglessly drabble on, I draw out of Frisk and look at Sans more closely. Nothing amiss. Definitely bone, not a human. Hm.  
I drift around behind him and draw his soul out, gently. It’s a light greyish-blue. All one colour. But it looks like it’s been stitched together. Patched up. This isn’t just his soul, there’s someone else after all.  
I’m busy wondering how that’s possible for a monster, and who it would be, when I hear an oddly familiar voice. “Hello, Chara.” [Hello, Chara.]  
I’m confused for a long moment, then Sans’ soul begins to quiver, and a faint shadowy shape forms around it. “Dr Gaster?”  
“It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?” [It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?]  
“I thought you were dead.”  
“I am, Chara. Aren’t you?” [I am, Chara. Aren’t you?]  
I have no response to this. “So. You fused onto Sans.”  
“That much is obvious, Chara.” [That much is obvious, Chara.]  
I ponder this. I never trusted Gaster much, even when I was alive. He’s the kind who takes work too seriously and will hurt whoever he needs to get what he wants. Now that he’s dead and aiding Sans in the same way I’m helping Frisk…Wait. Can he control Sans? Can he use magic through Sans? I mean, I don’t remember much of Sans from when I was alive, but Gaster had some really scary magic. A nice bonus of studying how magic works; being able to rig the system.  
I cross my arms. “So that’s how Sans is aware.”  
“He wasn’t. I was. I informed him.” [He wasn’t. I was. I informed him.]  
“Right. Whatever.”  
“You’ve changed, Chara. You used to be such a polite child.” [You’ve changed, Chara. You used to be such a polite child.]  
“Being dead and alone for decades will do that to you. You at least had Sans. I only found Frisk recently.”  
“Hm.” [Hm.] Gaster gives me a crooked smile. “Well, I really should return Sans’ soul to him. He’s beginning to complain. Perhaps we shall meet again, Chara.” [Well, I really should return Sans’ soul to him. He’s beginning to complain. Perhaps we shall meet again, Chara.]  
“Don’t count on it,” I grumble as Gaster vanishes, and the blue soul fades back into Sans’ chest.

Frisk asks me afterward what I was up to behind Sans while they were talking. “Nothing, Frisk.” I fold back into them and resume partial control. “It’s not important.” After a pause I add, “Never talk to Sans again.”  
“Why?”  
“Because I said so.”  
“Come on Chara. At least explain why.”  
“You have me, Frisk. Sans has someone, too. Someone I trust even less than Sans. He’s two untrustworthy and very powerful and very intelligent people meshed into one.”  
“Sans? Powerful and intelligent?”  
“Trust me on this, Frisk!”  
They sigh. “Fine. For now, at least.”  
We returned to Hotlands, and to say the least, I was less bothered by Alphys’ annoying updates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. The parts with Gaster in the quotations are meant to be in Wingdings, but for some reason it was lost in translation. Just pretend :P


	22. Frustration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long wait everyone, I'm useless :(  
> I had this done a while ago, but my beta readers suggested splitting the chapter in half and adding more Mettaton in this part. I hope it's worth the wait! I have the next chapter finished as well, it should be up soon.

Frisk and I are wandering through Hotlands, disturbed only by Frisk going off to hug the odd monter, and Alphys annoying us with mostly useless advice. We soon come across a dark room, and Alphys offers us help by hacking the computers. I spare a moment to wonder why she makes us go through all this garbage when she clearly has control over basically everything in Hotlands to begin with, but I don’t have long to ponder before blaring lights flash on, revealing a kitchen.  
“Oh no.” Alphys seems worried. I’m not sure why, until the sexy rectangle himself makes an appearance, introducing the show as ‘Cooking With A Killer Robot’ and confetti is practically shot at Frisk.  
Mettaton has to be the worst killer when it comes to being intimidating. As if baking a cake on a cooking show is in any way threatening. What is he even hoping to achieve? Make us run around for ingredients until we collapse from exhaustion?  
Frisk and I gather the ingredients he asked for, despite his absurd remarks. “Milk and eggs in the fridge? No way, Darling! They’d get cold!!!” This one, in particular, had me completely overwhelmed by his confidence despite his utter stupidity. Everything about him is absurdly nonsensical. Who builds a robot that shape and size suspended on a single wheel? Who thought to mix cliche TV shows with murder? And why for all that is good and pure is the robot trying to kill us making us help him to bake a cake? It makes literally no sense at all. He actually says “trademark” at the end of his trademarked phrases.  
“Oh my! Wait a magnificent moment!”  
What now?  
“How could I forget!!! We’re missing the most important ingredient!”  
Well, I’m glad he realised you can’t make a cake with milk, sugar and eggs. Even for the most basic cake, you’d need butter or oil, flour, and any number of other smaller things for flavour, like cocoa or vanilla.  
Oh. Yeah, or a chainsaw. That’d do the trick.  
What the hell!? Why does he have a chainsaw on a cooking show!? And who puts souls in cakes, anyway? How are your viewers at home supposed to follow this recipe, Mettaton? Do you just have human souls for sale around here? If so, why are you murdering us for one? And if you make this cake how the hell does Asgore get the soul?  
I am completely losing it over the utter absurdity, and I almost forget Frisk is in mortal danger. I’m about to take over and do something, when Alphys calls.  
“W-wait a second! Couldn’t you make a…Couldn’t you use a…Couldn’t you make a substitution in the recipe?!”  
“You mean, use a different, non-human ingredient?” He sounds as though the idea of not cooking things alive is simply absurd. “Why?”  
“Uhh, what if someone’s…Vegan?”  
“Vegan.” He sounds so deadpan and sarcastic it’s almost funny.  
“Uh well I mean-”  
“That’s a brilliant idea, Alphys!!” Okay, that was a dramatic change of tone. Literally. He now sounds like this previously idiotic idea is the greatest thing ever. “Actually, I happen to have an option right here!”  
What?  
“MTT-brand always-convenient human-soul-flavoured-substitute!”  
I totally believe that that’s a thing and this is in no way suspicious at all.  
Totally.  
“A can of which…” he pauses dramatically, as though the location of the can was some huge reveal, “is just over on that counter!!!”  
So he has one on hand. Over there. Not I the kitchen.  
This is a very, very poor setup.  
“Frisk, you see through this ruse, right?”  
“What ruse?”  
“Everything is far too convenient.”  
“Oh, it’s just a game Mettaton’s playing with us. He probably won’t even hurt us.”  
“Even then, there’s something off about this, Frisk.”  
Frisk waves me off and mumbles something about paranoid.  
Then the counter shoots up like a rocket.  
Then we have a time limit, or, “We’ll just have to go back to the original plan!”  
The cliche grows every second. I don’t trust a thing about this for a second.  
Then Alphys calls, and states the obvious fact that we can’t climb up in time. This is like some poorly written TV show.  
Oh, of course.  
Of course there’s a jetpack in the phone.  
Of course there’s the exact right amount of fuel to get up this thing.  
Naturally, Alphys knows that without needing to stop and do any sort of calculations.  
If there was any doubt about this being a setup before, it’s gone now. Alphys is in cahoots as well, apparently. What do they hope to achieve?  
While I ponder this, Frisk weaves around the projectile cooking ingredients from Mettaton and reaches the substitute. Mettaton makes some poor excuse bout the integrity of his show (as if he had any to begin with), announces he made the cake beforehand anyway, and flies off to who only knows where in the most melodramatic way possible.  
At least Frisk is safe for the time being, but I wonder what those two are scheming.


	23. Abomination

More boring wanderings through the Hotlands, watching Frisk befriend monsters indiscriminately without a thought for their own safety. Annoying.  
Soon enough, we run into one of those gooey white things again. Frisk instantly starts to panic. “It’s okay, I got this one.”   
They calm a little as I take the reigns, but they screech at me to stop when I attack. “Chara, no!”  
I attack anyway. This thing is freaking scary and I need to…  
What the hell?  
Did that thing just reverse the damage on itself and HEAL from my attack?   
I’m not quite sure what happened, but it wasn’t good, that’s for sure.  
I attack again. The same thing happens.  
Again. Nothing.  
I can’t damage them. I can’t kill them. Frisk can’t spare them.  
There’s no way we can defeat these things.  
I start to feel dizzy. Frisk is panicking and their emotions are combining with and amplifying mine.  
Oh my gosh.  
I can’t breathe.  
I can’t see.  
This is hell.  
I can’t win.  
This thing is destroying us both without even touching us.  
Pathetic.  
Hopeless.

Death.

Some time later, we come to, tucked into a corner where there are fewer monsters. Someone must have come and moved us. Frisk is mad.  
“Chara! How many times do I have to ask you not to just kill things!?”  
“Sparing it wasn’t going to work.”  
“Oh, and killing it worked so much better, didn’t it?”  
“Frisk, I-”  
“No. I’m done, Chara. Get out.”  
“What?”  
“GET OUT!”  
I’ve never seen Frisk this mad. I unwrap myself from them.  
“Chara why are you still here?”  
“I…can’t get out.”  
“What!?”  
“I’m stuck, Frisk. Looks like we’re stuck with each other in the literal sense.”  
“Ugh, why?”  
“The combined panic attack must have sealed us. I couldn’t leave even if I wanted to. Which to be honest, I don’t.”  
Frisk sighs. “Fine.”  
In my best effort to reassure them, I hug their soul gently and remind them, “We have a deal, right?”  
“Yeah.”  
I’m not sure what else to say, so I give their soul a soft squeeze. “I love you, Frisk.”  
No reply. But I feel their anger fade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say for this one, really. It kind of wrote itself, and I think it came out how I wanted it :P Hope you all enjoyed


End file.
